SOUTHERN 


THE   OLD   SOUTH 


01 


BY  THOMAS  NELSON   PAGE 


ELSKET    AND    OTHER    STORIES,     lamo,   $1.00 
NEWFOUND    RIVER,     umo,         .         .         .      i.oo 

IN  OLE  VIRGINIA,     nmo 1.25 

THE  SAME.      Cameo  Edition.     With  an  etch- 
ing by  W.  L.  Sheppard.     i6mo,         .         .      1.25 


AMONG  THE  CAMPS.  Young  People's 

Stories  of  the  War.  Illustrated.  Sq.  8vo,  1.50 

TWO  LITTLE  CONFEDERATES.  Illus- 
trated. Square  8vo, 1.50 


"BEFO1  DE  WAR."  Echoes  of  Negro  Dia- 
lect. By.  A.  C.  Gordon  and  Thomas 
Nelson  Page.  I2mo,  ....  i.oo 


THE  OLD  SOUTH 

36** 

ESSAYS     SOCIAL    AND     POLITICAL 


BY 


THOMAS   NELSON   PAGE 


"  Secernas  hanc  quasi  fabulam  rerum  eventorumque 
nostrorum.  Habet  enim  varies  actus  multasque  actiones, 
et  consiliorum  et  temporum  " 

CICERO,  Epist.:  ad  Lucceiutn 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
1892 


COPYRIGHT,   1892,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


33-85 


F 

2.0k 


MY     COUNTRYMEN 

AND 

COUNTRYWOMEN 


PREFACE 

SEVERAL  of  the  within  essays  were  delivered  as 
addresses  before  literary  Alumni  Societies,  and 
revision  has  not  wholly  availed  to  clear  them  from 
the  rhetoric  which  insensibly  crept  into  them.  Be- 
ing, however,  upon  topics'  as  to  which  there  is  much 
diversity  of  sentiment,  this  form  of  expression  will 
at  least  serve  to  show  the  state  of  feeling  where 
they  were  delivered  and  thus  may  not  be  without 
its  use.  The  substance  of  the  papers  is  what  the 
author  earnestly  believes  and  what  he  is  satisfied 
history  will  establish. 

The  essays  are  given  to  the  public  in  the  hope 
that  they  may  serve  to  help  awaken  inquiry  into 
the  true  history  of  the  Southern  people  and  may 
aid  in  dispelling  the  misapprehension  under  which 

the  Old  South  has  lain  so  long. 

vu 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

THE  OLD  SOUTH 3 

AUTHORSHIP  IN  THE  SOUTH  BEFORE  THE  WAR  .  57 
GLIMPSES  OF  LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  VIRGINIA  ...  95 
SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  OLD  VIRGINIA  BEFORE  THE  WAR  143 

Two  OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES 189 

THE  OLD  VIRGINIA  LAWYER 235 

THE    WANT   OF   A   HISTORY   OF    THE    SOUTHERN 

PEOPLE 253 

THE  NEGRO  QUESTION ,     .  277 


THE   OLD   SOUTH 


O      r 


THE  OLD  SOUTH 

^ 

IN  the  selection  of  a  theme  for  this  occasion;  I  : 
have,  curious  to  relate,  been  somewhat  embarrassed. 
Not  that  good  subjects  were  not  manifold,  and  mate- 
rial plentiful  ;  but  for  me,  on  this  occasion,  when  I 
am  to  address  this  audience,  in  this  presence,  there 
could  be  but  one  subject  —  the  best. 

I  deem  myself  fortunate  that  I  am  permitted  to 
address  you  on  this  spot;  for  this  University, 
whose  friend  was  George  Washington  and  whose 
establisher  was  Robert  E.  Lee,  impresses  me  as  the 
spot  on  earth  to  which  my  discourse  is  most  appro- 
priate. Broad  enough  to  realize  the  magnificent 
ideal  of  its  first  benefactor  as  a  university  where 
the  youth  of  this  whole  country  may  meet  and 
acquire  the  grand  idea  of  this  American  Union, 
it  is  yet  so  distinctly  free  from  the  materialistic 
tendencies  which  of  late  are  assailing  kindred 
institutions  and  insidiously  threatening  even  the 
existence  of  the  Union  itself,  that  it  may  be  justly 
regarded  as  the  citadel  of  that  conservatism  which, 
mated  with  immortal  devotion  to  duty,  may  be 
termed  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  Southern  civili- 
zation. 

3 


4  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

Two-and-twenty  years  ago  there  fell  upon  the 
South  a  blow  for  which  there  is  no  metaphor 
among  the  casualties  which  may  befall  a  man.  It 
was  not  simply  paralysis ;  it  was  death.  It  was 
destruction  under  the  euphemism  of  reconstruction. 
She  was  crucified ;  bound  hand  and  foot ;  wrapped 
in  the  cerements  of  the  grave ;  laid  away  in  the 
sepulchre  of  the  departed;  the  mouth  of  the  sep- 
ulchre was  stopped,  was  sealed  with  the  seal  of 
government,  and  a  watch  was  set.  The  South  was 
dead,  and  buried,  and  yet  she  rose  again.  The 
voice  of  God  called  her  forth;  she  came  clad  in 
her  grave-clothes,  but  living,  and  with  her  face 
uplifted  to  the  heavens  from  which  had  sounded 
the  call  of  her  resurrection. 

Like  the  fabled  phoenix  she  rose  from  her  ashes ; 
renewed  her  youth  like  the  eagle's ;  fixed  her  gaze 
upon  the  sun,  and  once  more  spreading  her  strong 
pinions,  lifted  herself  for  another  flight. 

The  outside  world,  tutored  on  hostile  literature, 
gazed  astonished  at  her  course,  and  not  knowing, 
or  else  not  admitting,  that  any  good  thing  could 
come  out  of  Nazareth,  said,  this  is  not  the  Old 
South,  but  a  new  civilization,  a  New  South. 

The  phrase  by  imperative  inference  institutes 
invidious  comparison  with  and  implies  censure  of 
something  else — of  some  other  order — of  a  differ- 
ent civilization. 

/  That  order,  that   civilization,  I  propose  to  dis- 
cuss briefly  this  evening;  to,  so  far  as  may  be  in 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  5 

the  narrow  limits  of  an  address,  repel  this  censure ; 
show  that  comparison  is  absurd,  and^that  the  New 
South  is,  in  fact,  simply  the  Old  South  with  its 
energies  directed  into  new  lines. 

The  civilization  which  is  kiibwn  by  this  name 
was  as  unique  as  it  was  distinct.  It  combined 
elements  of  the  three  great  civilizations  which 
since  the  dawn  of  history  have  enlightened  the 
world.  It  partook  of  the  philosophic  tone  of  the 
Grecian,  of  the  dominant  spirit  of  the  Roman,  and 
of  the  guardfulness  of  individual  rights  of  the 
Saxon  civilization.  And  over  all  brooded  a  soft- 
ness and  beauty,  the  joint  product  of  Chivalry  and 
Christianity. 

This  individuality  began  almost  with  the  first 
permanent  Anglo-Saxon  settlement  of  this  conti- 
nent; for  the  existence  of  its  distinguishing  char- 
acteristics may  be  traced  from  the  very  beginning 
of  the  colonial  period.  The  civilization  flourished 
for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  until  its 
vitality,  after  four  years  of  invasion  and  war, 
expired  in  the  convulsive  throes  of  reconstruc- 
tion. 

Its  distinctiveness,  like  others  of  its  character- 
istics, was  referable  to  its  origin,  and  to  its  subse- 
quent environing  conditions. 

Its  tendency  was  towards  exclusiveness  and  con- 
servatism. It  tolerated  no  invasion  of  its  rights. 
It  admitted  the  jurisdiction  of  no  other  tribunal 
than  itself.  The  result  was  not  unnatural.  The 


6  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

.-•s. 

world,  barred  out,  took  its  revenge,  and  the  Old 
South  stands  to-day  charged  with  sterility,  with 
attempting  to  perpetuate  human  slavery,  and  with 
rebellion. 

That  there  was  shortcoming  in  certain  directions 
may  not  be  denied ;  but  it  was  not  what  is  charged. 

If,  when  judged  by  the  narrow  standard  of  mere, 
common  materialism,  the  Southern  civilization  fell 
short,  yet  there  is  another  standard  by  which  it 
measured  the  fullest  stature :  the  sudden  supremacy 
of  the  American  people  to-day  is  largely  due  to  the 
Old  South,  and  to  its  contemned  civilization. 

The  difference  between  the,  Southern  civilization 
and  the  Northern  was  the  result  of  the  difference 
_between  their  origins  and  subsequent  surroundings, 
he  Northern  colonies  of  Great  Britain  in  Amer- 
ica were  the  asylums  of  religious  zealots  and  revo- 
lutionists who  at  their  first  coming  were  bent  less 
on  the  enlargement  of  their  fortunes  than  on  'the 
freedom  to  exercise  their  religious  convictions,  how- 
ever much  the  sudden  transition  from  dependence 
and  restriction  to  freedom  and  license  may;rn  a 
brief  time  have  tempered  their  views  of  liberty/and 
changed  them  into  proscriptors  of  the  most  tyran- 
nical type. 

The  Southern  colonies,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
from  the  first  the  product  simply  of  a  desire;.l'for 
adventure,  for  conquest,  and  for  wealth. 

The  Northern  settlements  were,  it  is  true,  founded 
under  the  law;  but  it  was  well  understood  that 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  7 

they  contained  an  element  which  was  not  friendly  to 
the  government  and  that  the  latter  was  well  satisfied 
to  have  the  seas  stretch  between  them.  The  South- 
ern, on  the  other  hand,  came  with  the  consent  of  the 
crown,  the  blessing  of  the  Church,  and  under  the 
auspices  and  favor  of  men  of  high  standing  in  the 
kingdom.  They  came  with  all  the  ceremonial  of  an 
elaborate  civil  government  —  with  an  executive,  a 
council  deputed  by  authorities  at  home,  and  for- 
mal and  minute  instructions  and  regulations. 

The  crown  hoped  to  annex  the  unknown  land 
lying  between  the  El  Dorado,  which  Spain  had  ob- 
tained amid  the  summer  seas,  and  the  unbounded 
claims  of  its  hereditary  enemy,  France,  to  the  North 
and  West. 

The  Church,  which  viewed  the  independence  of 
the  Northern  refugees  as  schism,  if  not  heresy,  gave 
to  this  enterprise  its  benison  in  the  belief  that  "the 
adventurers  for  the  plantations  of  Virginia  were 
the  most  noble  and  worthy  advancers  of  the  stand- 
ard of  Christ  among  the  Gentiles."  The  company 
organized  and  equipped  successive  expeditions  in 
the  hope  of  gain ;  and  soldiers  of  fortune,  and  gen- 
tlemen in  misfortune,  threw  in  their  lot  in  the  cer- 
tainty of  adventure  and  the  probability  that  they 
might  better  their  condition. 

Under  such  auspices  the  Southern  colonies  neces- 
sarily were  rooted  in  the  faith  of  the  England  from 
which  they  came  —  political,  religious,  and  civil.] 
Thus  from  the  very  beginning  the  spirit  of  the  two! 


8  THE   OLD   SOUfH 

sections  was  absolutely  different,  and  their  sur- 
rounding conditions  were  for  a  long  time  such,  as  to 
keep  them  diverse. 

The  first  governor  of  the  colony  of  Virginia  was 
a  member  of  a  gentle  Huntingdonshire  family,  and 
he  was  succeeded  in  office  by  a  long  line  of  men, 
most  of  them  of  high  degree.  In  the  first  ship-load 
of  colonists  there  were  "  four  carpenters,  twelve  la- 
borers, and  fifty-four  gentlemen." 

John  Sniith,  the  strongest  soul  that  planted  the 
BritisTTspirit  upon  this  continent,  and  who  was 
himself  a  soldier  of  fortune,  cried  out  in  the  bitter- 
ness of  his  heart  against  such  colonists ;  yet  he  came 
afterwards  to  note  that  these  "gentlemen"  cut  down 
more  trees  in  a  day  than  the  ordinary  laborers. 

With  the  controversy  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Southern  colonies  were  generally 
the  descendants  of  Cavaliers  it  is  not  necessary  to 
deal.  It  makes  no  difference  now  to  the  race  which 
established  this  Union  whether  its  ancestors  fought 
with  the  Norman  conqueror  on  Senlac  Hill  or 
whether  they  were  among  the  "  villains  "  who  fol- 
lowed the  standards  of  Harold's  earls.  It  may, 
however,  be  averred  that  the  gentle  blood  and  high 
connection  which  undoubtedly  existed  in  a  consid- 
erable degree  exerted  widely  a  strengthening  and 
refining  power,  and  were  potent  in  their  influence  to 
elevate  and  sustain  not  only  the  families  which 
claimed  to  be  their  immediate  possessors,  but 
through  them  the  entire  colonial  body,  social  and 
politic. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH 

I  make  a  prouder  claim  than  this :  the  inhabi- 
tants of  these  colonies  were  the  strongest  strains  of 
many  stocks  —  Saxon,  Celt,  and  Teuton  ;  Cavalier 
and  Puritan. 

The  ship-loads  of  artisans  and  adventurers  who 
came,  caught  in  time  the  general  spirit,  and  found 
in  the  new  country  possibilities  never  dreamed  of 
in  the  old.  Each  man,  whether  gentle  or  simple, 
was  compelled  to  assert  himself  in  the  land  where 
personal  force  was  of  more  worth  than  family 
position,  however  exalted ;  but  having  proved  his 
personal  title  to  individual  respect,  he  was  eager  to 
approve  likewise  his  claim  to  honorable  lineage, 
which  still  was  held  at  high  value.  The  royal 
governors,  with  all  the  accompaniments  of  a  vice- 
regal court,  only  so  much  modified  as  was  necessary 
to  suit  the  surroundings,  kept  before  the  people 
the  similitude  of  royal  state ;  and  generation  after 
generation  of  large  planters  and  thriving  merchants, 
with  broad  grants  acquired  from  the  crown  or  by 
their  own  enterprise,  as  they  rose,  fell  into  the 
tendency  of  the  age  and  perpetuated  or  augmented 
the  spirit  of  the  preceding  generation. 

With  the  Huguenot  immigration  came  a  new 
accession  of  the  same  spirit,  intensified  in  some 
directions,  if  tempered  in  others. 

As  society  grew  more  and  more  indulgent  its 
demands  became  greater ;  the  comforts  of  life  be- 
came more  readily  obtainable  in  the  colonies  just 
at  the  time  that  civil  and  religious  restrictions 


10  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

became  more  burdensome  in  the  old  country,  and 
the  stream  of  immigration  began  to  flow  more 
freely. 

Slavery  had  become  meantime  a  factor  in  the 
problem  —  potent  at  first  for  perhaps  mitigated 
good,  finally  for  immeasurable  ill  to  all  except 
the  slaves  themselves. 

This  class  of  labor  was  so  perfectly  suited  to  the 
low  alluvial  lands  of  the  tide-water  section  that  each 
generation  found  itself  wealthier  than  that  which 
had  preceded  it,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  limits 
between  the  mountains  and  the  coast  would  soon 
be  too  narrow  for  a  race  which  had  colonized  under 
a  charter  that  ran  "  up  into  the  land  to  the  farthest 
sea." 

To  this  reason  was  added  that  thirst  for  adven- 
ture and  that  desire  for  glory  which  is  a  characteris- 
tic of  the  people,  and  in  Virginia  Spottswood  and 
his  Knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe  set  out  to 
ride  to  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  which  till  then 
was  the  barricade  beyond  which  no  Saxon  was 
known  to  have  ventured,  and  from  which  it  was 
supposed  the  Great  Lakes  might  be  visible.  They 
found  not  "  the  unsalted  seas,"  but  one  of  the  fair- 
est valleys  on  earth  stretched  before  them  ;  and  the 
Old  Dominion  suddenly  expanded  from  a  narrow 
province  to  a  land  from  whose  fecund  womb  com- 
monwealths and  peoples  have  sprung. 

By  a  strange  destiny,  almost  immediately  suc- 
ceeding this  discovery,  the  vitality  of  the  colony 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  11 

received  an  infusion  of  another  element,  which 
became  in  the  sequel  a  strong  part  of  that  life 
which  in  its  development  made  the  "  Southern 
civilization." 

This  element  occupied  the  new  valley  and  changed 
it  from  a  hunting-ground  to  a  garden.  The  first 
settler,  it  is  said,  came  to  it  by  an  instinct  as 
imperative  as  that  which  brought  the  dove  back  to 
the  ark  of  safety.  It  was  not  the  dove,  however, 
which  came  when  John  LaTrw  settled  in  this  valley ; 
but  an  eagle,  and  in  his  eyry  he  reared  a  brood  of 
young  who  have  been  ever  ready  to  strike  for  the 
South.  He  had  been  forced  to  leave  Ireland  be- 
cause he  had  slain  his  landlord,  who  was  attempt- 
ing to  illegally  evict  him,  and  the  curious  epitaph 
on  his  tomb  begins,  "Here  lies  John  Lewis,  who 
slew  the  Irish  Lord." 

He  was  followed  by  the  McDowells,  Alexanders, 
Prestons,  Grahams,  Reids,  McLaughlins,  Moores, 
Wallaces,  McCluers,  Mathews,  Woods,  Campbells, 
Waddells,  Greenlees,  Bowyers,  Andersons,  Breck- 
enridges,  Paxtons,  Houstons,  Stuarts,  Gambles, 
McCorkles,  Wilsons,  McXutts,  and  many  others, 
whose  descendants  have  held  the  highest  offices  in 
the  land  which  their  fortitude  created,  and  who 
have  ever  thrown  on  the  side  of  principle  the  cour- 
age, resolution,  and  loyalty  with  which  they  held 
out  for  liberty  and  Protestantism  in  the  land  from 
which  they  came. 

It  was  a  sturdy  strain  which  had  suddenly  flung 


12  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

itself  along  the  frontier,  and  its  effect  has  been 
plainly  discernible  in  the  subsequent  history  of 
the  Old  South ;  running  a  somewhat  sombre  thread 
in  the  woof  of  its  civilization,  but  giving  it  "a 
body  "  which  perhaps  it  might  otherwise  not  have 
possessed.  A  somewhat  similar  element,  though 
springing  from  a  different  source,  held  the  frontier 
in  the  other  States.  Its  force  was  not  towards  the 
East,  but  towards  the  West ;  not  towards  the  sea 
and  the  old  country,  but  towards  the  mountains 
and  the  new ;  and  to  its  energy  was  due  the  Western 
settlement,  as  to  the  other  and  the  older  class  was 
due  the  Eastern. 

As  the  latter  had  created  and  opened  up  the  first 
tier  of  States  along  the  sea-coast,  so  these  new- 
comers now  crossed  the  mountains,  penetrated  "the 
dark  and  bloody  ground,"  and  conquered  the  second 
tier,  hewing  out  of  primeval  forests  —  and  holding 
them  alike  against  Indians,  French  and  British  — 
the  States  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  and 
opening  up  for  the  first  time  the  possibility  of  a 
great  American  continent. 

They  were  not  slave-holders  to  a  great  extent; 
for  they  were  frontiersmen,  who  mainly  performed 
their  own  work  ;  they  were  not  generally  connected 
with  the  old  families  of  the  Piedmont  and  Tide- 
water, for  they  had  in  large  part  entered  the  State 
by  her  northern  boundary,  or  had  been  brought  to 
take  up  land  under  "cabin  rights,"  or  had  come 
across  the  mountain  barrier  and  had  cut  their  own 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  V      13 


way  into  the  forests,  and  they  traced  their  lineage 
to  Caledonian  stock ;  they  were  not  bound  to  them 
by  the  ties  of  a  common  religion,  for  they  repu- 
diated the  Anglican  Church,  with  its  hierarchy  and 
"  malignant  doctrines,"  as  that  Church  had  repudi- 
ated them,  and  they  worshipped  God,  according  to 
their  own  consciences,  "in  a  way  agreeable  to  the 
principles  of  their  education." 

Thus,  neither  by  interest,  blood,  nor  religion, 
were  they  for  a  time  connected  with  the  original 
settlers  of  the  Southern  colonies ;  and  yet  they  were 
distinctly  and  irrevocably  an  integral  part  of  the 
South  and  of  the  Southern  civilization,  —  as  the 
waters  of  the  Missouri  and  the  upper  Mississippi 
are  said  to  flow  side  by  side  for  a  hundred  miles, 
each  distinguishable,  yet  both  together  mingling  to 
make  the  majestic  Father  of  Waters. 

There  was  something  potent  in  the  Southern  soil, 
which  drew  to  it  all  who  once  rested  on  its  bosom, 
without  reference  to  race,  or  class,  or  station.  Let 
men  but  once  breathe  the  air  of  the  South  and  gen- 
erally they  were  thenceforth  Southerners  forever. 
So,  having  crossed  the  mountains,  this  race  made 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  Southern  States,  and, 
against  the  allurements  of  their  own  interest  and 
the  appeals  of  the  oSTorth,  held  them  so,  and  infused 
a  strong  Southern  element  into  the  State  of  Ohio. 

Steam  had  not  been  then  invented,  and  the  infi- 
nite forces  of  electricity  were  as  yet  unknown ;  yet, 
without  these  two  great  civilizers,  the  Southern 


14  THE   OLD  SOUTH 

spirit  bore  the  ensign  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  across 
the  mountains,  seized  the  West,  and  created  this 
American  continent. 

There  is  another  work  which  the  South  may 
justly  claim.  As  it  pushed  advance  up  first  against 
the  French  confines  and  then  beyond  them,  and 
made  this  country  English,  so  it  preserved  the 
gpjpjf.  nf  civil  and  religions, jjhgjpfrY  j^^and.  unde- 
filed,  and  established  it  as  the  guiding  star  o 
American  people  foreyer. 

I  believe  that  the  subordination  of  everything 
else  td  this  principle  is  the  key  to  the  Southern 
character. 

The  first  charter  of  Virginia,  the  leading  Southern 
colony,  "secured"  to  her  people  "the  privileges, 
franchises,  and  immunities  of  native-born  English- 
men forever,"  and  they  never  forgot  it  nor  per- 
mitted others  to  overlook  it. 

She  had  a  Legislative  Assembly  as  early  as  1619, 
and  the  records  show  that  it  guarded  with  watchful 
vigilance  against  all  encroachments  those  rights 
which,  thanks  to  it,  are  to-day  regarded  as  inalien- 
able among  all  English-speaking  races. 

The  Assembly  was  hardly  established  before  it 
struck  its  first  blow  for  constitutional  liberty. 

When  the  royal  commissioners  sent  by  James  to 
investigate  the  "  Seditious  Parliament "  came  and 
demanded  the  records  of  the  Assembly  it  refused 
to  give  them  up ;  and  when  the  clerk,  under  a  bribe, 
surrendered  them,  the  Assembly  stood  him  in  the 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  15 

pillory  and  cut  off  one  of  his  ears.  This  did  not 
save  their  charter;  but  in  the  sequel  it  turned 
out  that  the  forfeiture  of  the  charter  was  a  great 
blessing. 

As  early  as  1623-24  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
colony  adopted  resolutions  defining  and  declaring 
the  right  of  the  colonists,  and  limiting  the  powers 
of  the  executive. 

The  governor  was  not  "to  lay  any  taxes  or  impo- 
sitions upon  the  colony,  their  lands,  or  other  way 
than  by  authority  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  be 
levied  and  employed  as  the  General  Assembly  shall 
appoint."  Moreover,  the  governor  was  not  to  with- 
draw the  inhabitants  from  their  labor  for  his  ser- 
vice, and  the  Burgesses  attending  the  General 
Assembly  were  to  be  privileged  from  arrest. 

The  colony  of  Maryland  went  farthest  yet  in  the 
way  of  liberty,  and,  under  the  direction  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  passed  the  famous  Act  of  Toleration  on 
the  2d  of  April,  1649,  which  first  established  the 
principle  of  freedom  of  conscience  on  the  earth. 

Thus  early  was  the  South  striking  for  those  great 
principles  of  liberty  which  are  fundamental  now 
mainly  because  of  the  spirit  of  our  forefathers.  It 
was  not  until  some  years  after  Virginia  had  declared 
herself  that  the  issue  was  finally  joined  in  England. 

From  this  time  the  light  of  liberty  flamed  like  a 
beacon.  The  colonies  declared  themselves  devotedly 
loyal  to  the  crown,  but  were  more  true  to  their 
own  rights ;  and  they  frequently  found  themselves 


16  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

opposed  to  the  government  as  vested  in  and  mani- 
fested by  the  royal  governor. 

During  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  the  South- 
ern colonies  held  by  the  crown,  and  became  the 
asylum  of  many  hard-pressed  Cavaliers  who  found 
Cromwell's  interest  in  them  too  urgent  to  permit 
them  to  remain  at  home.  And  Charles  II.  himself 
was  offered  a  crown  by  his  loyal  subjects  in  Vir- 
ginia when  he  was  a  fugitive  with  a  price  set  on 
his  head. 

So  notorious  was  this  fealty  that  the  Great  Pro- 
tector was  obliged  to  send  a  war  fleet  to  Virginia 
to  quell  this  spirit  and  to  make  terms  of  peace. 
The  treaty  is  made  as  between  independent  powers. 

The  colonies  were  to  obey  the  Commonwealth ; 
but  this  submission  was  to  be  acknowledged  a  vol- 
untary act,  not  forced  nor  constrained  by  a  conquest 
upon  the  country.  The  people  were  "  to  enjoy  such 
freedom  and  privileges  as  belong  to  free-born  peo- 
ple in  England."  The  continuance  of  their  Repre- 
sentative Assembly  was  guaranteed.  There  was  to 
be  total  indemnity.  The  colony  was  to  have  free 
trade,  notwithstanding  the  Navigation  Act.  The 
General  Assembly  alone  was  to  have  the  power  to 
levy  taxes ;  and  there  were  other  provisions  securing 
those  privileges  and  immunities  which  were  claimed 
as  the  birthright  of  the  race. 

After  Cromwell's  death  the  General  Assembly 
declared  the  supreme  power  to  be  "resident  in" 
itself  until  such  command  or  commission  should 


THE   OLD  SOUTH  17 

come  out  of  England  as  the  General  Assembly 
adjudged  lawful.  And  when  the  king  once  more 
came  into  his  own  the  General  Assembly  accepted 
his  governor  willingly,  as  did  the  colony  of  Mary- 
land, but  held  firmly  to  the  advantages  it  had 
secured  during  the  interregnum. 

The  colony  welcomed  the  followers  of  Cromwell 
in  the  hour  of  their  adversity,  and  offered  them  as 
secure  an  asylum  as  it  had  done  a  few  years  before 
to  the  hard-pressed  Cavaliers.  Thus  society  came  to 
be  knit  of  the  strongest  elements  of  all  parties  and 
classes,  who  merged  all  factions  into  loyalty  for 
their  collective  rights. 

Then  came  the  contest  with  Berkeley.  Charles 
forgot  the  people  who  offered  him  a  kingdom  when 
he  was  an  exile  and  a  wanderer,  and  his  representa- 
tive neglected  their  rights. 

England  claimed  the  monopoly  of  the  colonial 
trade,  and  imposed  a  heavy  duty  on  their  exports. 
Not  content  with  this,  the  silly  king  gave  away 
half  of  the  settled  portion  of  Virginia  to  two  of  his 
followers.  The  colony  sent  commissioners  to  pro- 
test, but  before  the  trouble  could  be  remedied 
Virginia,  demanding  self-government,  flamed  into 
revolution,  with  Nathaniel  Bacon  at  its  head. 

We  are  told  that  the  great  revolution  of  1688 
established  the  liberties  of  the  English  people. 
The  chief  Southern  colony  of  Great  Britain  had 
fought  out  its  revolution  twelve  years  before,  and 
although  the  revolution  failed  disastrously  for  its 


18  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

participants,  and  it  has  come  down  in  history  as  a 
rebellion,  yet  its  ends  were  gained. 

The  troops  of  the  fiery  Bacon  were  beaten  and 
scattered,  those  who  were  captured  were  hanged  as 
insurrectionists,  and  the  gallant  leader  himself 
died  of  fever  contracted  in  the  trenches,  a  fugitive 
and  an  outlaw,  with  a  stigma  so  welded  to  his 
name  that  after  two  centuries  he  is  known  but  as 
"Bacon  the  Rebel." 

Judged  by  the  narrow  standard  which  makes  suc- 
cess the  sole  test,  Nathaniel  Bacon  was  a  rebel,  and 
the  uprising  which  he  headed  was  a/rebellion;  but 
there  are  "  rebellions  "  which  are  not  rebellions,  but 
great  revolutions,  and  there  are  "rebels"  who,  how- 
ever absolutely  their  immediate  purposes  may  have 
failed,  and  however  unjustly  contemporary  history 
may  have  recorded  their  actions,  shall  yet  be 
known  to  posterity  as  patriots  pure  and  lofty, 
whose  motives  and  deeds  shall  evoke  the  admira- 
tion of  all  succeeding  time. 

Such  was  Nathaniel  Bacon.  They  called  him 
rebel  and  outlawed  him ;  but  he  headed  a  revolu- 
tion for  the  protection  of  the  same  rights,  the  same 
"  privileges,  franchises,  and  immunities,"  whose 
infringement  caused  another  revolution  just  one 
hundred  years  later,  the  leader  of  whose  armies 
was  the  rebel  George  Washington,  the  founder  of 
this  University. 

The  elder  rebel  failed  of  his  purpose  for  the  time, 
yet  haply  but  for  that  stalwart  blow  struck  at  James- 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  19 

town  for  the  rights  of  the  colonists  there  had  never 
been  a  Declaration  of  Independence,  a  Bunker  Hill, 
a  Yorktown,  or  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  spirit  never  receded.  The  opening  up  of 
lands,  the  increase  of  slaves,  the  extension  of 
commerce,  made  the  Southern  colonies  wealthier 
generation  after  generation,  and  their  population 
filled  the  territory  up  to  the  mountains  and  then 
flowed  over,  as  we  have  seen,  into  the  unknown 
regions  beyond ;  and  generation  after  generation,  as 
they  grew  stronger,  they  grew  more  self-contained, 
more  independent,  more  assertive  of  their  rights, 
more  repellant  of  any  ijivasion,  more  jealous  of 
tyranny,  more  loving  of  liberty. 

Against  governors,  councils,  metropolitans,  com- 
missaries, and  clergy,  in  the  Burgesses  and  in  the 
vestries,  they  frnight  the  fight  with  steadfast  cour- 
age and  persistency. 

The  long  contest  between  the  vestries  and  the« 
Church  was  only  a  different  phase  of  this  same 
spirit,  and  was  in  reality  the  same  struggle  be- 
tween the  colony  and  the  government  at  home, 
transferred  to  a  different  theatre.  The  planters 
were  churchmen;  but  they  claimed  the  right  to 
control  the  Church,  and  repudiated  the  right  of 
the  Church  to  control  them.  It  was  the  sacred 
right  of  self-government  for  which  they  contended ; 
and  the  first  cry  of  "  treason  "  was  when  the  con- 
test culminated  in  that  celebrated  Parsons  case,  in 
which  the  orator  of  the  Revolution,  burst  suddenly 
into  fame. 


20  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

"The  gentleman  has  spoken  treason,"  declared 
the  counsel  for  the  plaintiff ;  but  it  was  the  treason 
that  was  in  all  hearts,  and  was  the  first  step  of  the 
young  advocate  in  his  ascent  to  a  fame  for  oratory 
so  transcending  that  the  mind  of  a  later  and  more 
prosaic  generation  fails  to  grasp  its  wondrous- 
ness,  and  there  is  nothing  by  which  to  measure  it 
since  the  day  when  the  Athenian  orator  thundered 
against  the  Macedonian  tyrant. 

The  same  principles  which  inspired  the  uprising 
of  Bacon  a  century  before,  and  had  animated  the 
continuous  struggle  since,  swept  the  colonies  into 
revolution  now.  9 

The  Stamp  Act  of  1766  set  the  colonies  into 
flame,  and  from  this  time  to  the  outbreak  of  flagrant 
war,  a  decade  later,  the  people  stood  with  steadfast 
faces  set  against  all  encroachment ;  and  when  the 
time  came  for  war  the  South  sprang  to  arms.  She 
did  not  enter  upon  the  enterprise  from  ignorance 
of  her  danger,  nor  yet  in  recklessness. 

The  Southern  planter  sent  his  son  to  England  to 
be  educated,  and  many  of  the  men  who  sat  in  the 
great  conventions,  or  who  subscribed  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  had  been  themselves  educated 
in  England,  and  knew  full  well  the  magnitude  of 
the  hazard  they  were  assuming  in  instituting  with 
a  handful  of  straggling  colonies  a  revolution  against 
a  power  which  made  Chatham  the  ruler  of  Europe, 
and  which  only  a  generation  later  tore  the  victori- 
ous eagles  of  Napoleon  himself. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  21 

Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  the  wealthiest  man  in  the 
Colony  of  Virginia,  had  sat  by  Charles  James  Fox 
at  Eton  and  knew  England  and  her  power.  Others 
did  also. 

They  knew  all  this  full  well ;  and  yet  for  the 
sake  of  those  principles,  of  those  rights  and  liber- 
ties, which  they  believed  were  theirs  of  right,  and 
which  they  meant  to  transmit  undiminished  to 
their  children,  they  gave  up  wealth  and  ease  and 
security,  blazoned  on  their  standard  the  motto 
"  Virginia  for  Constitutional  Liberty,"  and  launched 
undaunted  on  the  sea  of  revolution. 

There  is  an  incident  connected  with  the  signing 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  which  illustrates 
at  once  the  character  of  the  Southern  planter  and 
the  point  I  am  endeavoring  to  make. 

You  may  have  observed,  in  looking  over  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  that 
Charles  Carroll  of  Maryland  subscribed  himself 
"Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton."  Unless  you  know 
the  story  it  would  appear  that  simple  arrogance 
prompted  such  a  subscription.  The  facts,  how- 
ever, were  these :  It  was  a  serious  occasion,  and  a 
solemn  act  this  group  of  men  were  performing, 
assembled  to  affix  their  names  to  this  document, 
which  was  to  be  forever  a  barrier  between  them 
and  Great  Britain ;  it  had  not  been  so  very  long 
since  the  headsman's  axe  had  fallen  for  a  less  overt 
treason  than  they  were  then  publicly  declaring,  and 
if  they  failed  they  were  likely  to  feel  its  weight  or 
else  to  meet  a  yet  more  disgraceful  death. 


22  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

Benjamin  Franklin  had  just  replied  to  the  remark, 
"  We  must  all  hang  together,"  with  his  famous 
pleasantry,  "  Yes,  or  we  shall  all  hang  separately," 
when  Carroll,  perhaps  the  wealthiest  man  in  Mary- 
land, took  the  pen.  As  he  signed  his  name,  "Charles 
Carroll,"  and  rose  from  his  seat,  some  one  said, 
"  Carroll,  you  will  get  off  easily  ;  there  are  so  many 
Charles  Carrolls  they  will  never  know  which  one  it 
is."  Carroll  walked  back  to  the  table,  and,  seizing 
the  pen  again,  stooped  and  wrote  under  his  name 
"of  Carrollton." 

They  affixed  their  names  to  the  Declaration,  com- 
prehending the  peril  they  were  braving,  as  well  as 
they  did  the  •  propositions  which  they  were  enunci- 
ating to  the  world,  and  they  intended  to  shoulder 
all  the  responsibility  of  their  act. 

The  South  emerged  from  the  Revolution  mangled 
and  torn,  but  free,  and  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  spirit 
whetted  by  success  and  intensified.  She  emerged 
also  with  her  character  already  established,  and 
with  those  qualities  permanently  fixed  which  sub- 
sequently came  to  be  known  through  their  results 
as  the  Southern  civilization. 

Succeeding  the  Revolution  came  a  period  not 
very  distinctly  marked  in  the  common  idea  of  im- 
portant steps,  but  full  of  hazard  and  equally  replete 
with  pregnant  results  —  a  period  in  which  the  loose 
and  impotent  Confederation  became  through  the 
patriotism  of  the  South  this  Union. 

At  last,  the  Constitution  was  somewhat  of  a  com- 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  23 

promise,  and  the  powers  not  expressly  delegated  to 
Congress  were  reserved  to  each  State  in  her  sover- 
eign capacity,  and  it  was  upon  this  basis  simply 
that  the  Union  was  established. 

It  may  throw  light  on  the  part  that  the  South 
took  in  this  to  recall  the  fact  that  when  the  point 
was  made  that  Virginia  should  relinquish  her  North- 
western territory,  Virginia  ceded  to  the  country, 
without  reservation,  the  territory  stretching  north 
to  the  Great  Lakes  and  west  to  the  Father  of  Waters. 
She  granted  it  without  consideration,  and  without 
grudging,  as  she  had  always  given  generously 
whenever  she  was  called  upon,  and  when  she  had 
stripped  herself  of  her  fairest  domain,  in  retribu- 
tion a  third  of  the  small  part  which  she  had  re- 
tained was  torn  from  her,  without  giving  her  even 
a  voice  to  protest  against  it.  There  is  no  act  of 
the  Civil  War,  or  of  its  offspring,  the  days  of  recon- 
struction, so  arbitrary,  so  tyrannical,  and  so  un- 
justifiable. 

When  the  South  emerged  from  the  Revolutionary 
War,  her  character  was  definitely  recognized  as 
manifesting  the  qualities  which  combined  to  give 
her  civilization  the  peculiar  and  strongly  marked 
traits  that  have  made  it  since  distinctive  among 
the  English-speaking  races.  And  in  the  succeeding 
years  these  traits  became  more  and  more  prom- 
inent. 

The  guiding  principle  of  the  South  had  steadily 
been  what  may  be  termed  public  spirit ;  devotion 


24  THE   OLD  SOUTH 

to  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  citizen,  the  embodi- 
ment of  which  in  a  form  of  government  was  aptly 
termed  the  Commonwealth. 

To  this  yielded  even  the  aristocratic  sentiment. 
The  Southerner  was  attached  to  the  British  mode 
of  inheritance,  yet  he  did  away  with  the  law  of 
primogeniture;  he  was  devoted  to  the  traditions 
of  his  Church,  yet  he  declared  for  religious  free- 
dom, and  not  only  disestablished  the  Church,  mit 
confiscated  and  made  common  the  Clrarch  lands, 
and  it  is  due  to  the  South,  to-day,  that  man  is  free 
to  worship  God  according  to  his  conscience  where- 
ever  the  true  God  is  known  and  feared. 

The  South  changed  far  less  after  its  separation 
from  Great  Britain  than  did  the  North.  Indeed, 
the  change  was  during  the  entire  ante-bellum  period 
comparatively  small  when  viewed  beside  the  change 
in  the  other  portion  of  the  country. 

It  has  been  said  that  it  was  provincial.  It  cer- 
tainly did  not  so  consider  itself,  for  it  held  a  self- 
esteem  and  self-content  as  unquestioning  and  sub- 
lime as  that  which  pervaded  Eome ;  and  wherever 
the  provinces  were,  they  were  to  the  Southerner 
assuredly  beyond  the  confines  of  the  Southern 
States.  Yet  the  naked  fact  is,  that,  assuming  pro- 
vincialism to  be  what  it  has  been  aptly  defined  to 
be,  "  localism,  or  being  on  one  side  and  apart  from 
the  general  movement  of  contemporary  life,"  the 
South  was  provincial. 

African  slavery,  which  had  proven  ill-adapted  to 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  25 

the  needs  and  conditions  of  the  North,  and  conse- 
quently had  disappeared  more  because  of  this  fact 
than  because  of  the  efforts  of  the  Abolitionists, 
had  proved  perfectly  suited  to  the  needs'  of  the 
South. 

The  negro  flourished  under  the  warm  skies  of  the 
South,  and  the  granaries  and  tobacco  fields  of  Mary- 
land and  Virginia,  the  cotton  fields  of  the  Carolinas, 
Georgia,  and  Alabama,  and  the  sugar  plantations  of 
the  Mississippi  States,  bore  ample  testimony  to  his 
utility  as  a  laborer.  But  the  world  was  moving 
with  quicker  strides  than  the  Southern  planter 
knew,  and  slavery  was  banishing  from  his  land  all 
the  elements  of  that  life  which  was  keeping  stride 
with  progress  without.  Thus,  before  the  South- 
erner knew  it,  the  temper  of  the  time  had  changed, 
slavery  was  become  a  horror,  and  he  himself  was 
left  behind  and  was  in  the  opposition. 

Changes  came,  but  they  did  not  affect  the  South' 
—  it  remained  as  before  or  changed  in  less  ratio ; 
progress  was  made ;  the  rest  of  the  world  fell  into 
the  universal  movement ;  but  the  South  advanced 
more  slowly.  It  held  by  its  old  tenets  when  they 
were  no  longer  tenable,  by  its  ancient  customs  when, 
perhaps,  they  were  no  longer  defensible.  All  inter- 
ference from  the  outside  was  repelled  as  officious 
and  inimical,  and  all  intervention  was  instantly  met 
with  hostility  and  indignation.  It  believed  itself 
the  home  of  liberality  when  it  was,  in  fact,  neces- 
sarily intolerant; — of  enlightenment,  of  progress, 


26  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

when  it  had  been  so  far  distanced  that  it  knew  not 
that  the  world  had  passed  by. 

The  cause  of  this  was  African  slavery,  with 
/  which  the  South  is  taunted  as  if  she  alone  had 
I  instituted  it.  For  this  she  suffered;  for  this,  at 
1  last,  she  was  forced  to  fight  and  pour  out  her  blood 

like  water. 

x    Slavery  had   forced   the  South  into  a  position 
S  where  she  must  fight  or  surrender  her  rights. 

The  fight  on  the  part  of  the  Ngrjjh  was  for  the 
power  to  adapt  the  Constitution  to  its  new  doctrine, 
and  yet  to  maintain  the  Union  ;  on  the  part  of 
the  South,  it  was  for  the  preservation  of  guaran- 
teed constitutional  rights. 

Through  the  force  of  circumstances  and  under 
"an  inexorable  political  necessity,"  the  South 
found  itself  compelled  to  assume  finally  the  defence 
of  the  system ;  but  it  was  not  responsible  either 
for  its  origin  or  its  continuance,  and  the  very  men 
who  fought  to  prevent  external  interference  with 
it  had  spent  their  lives  endeavoring  to  solve  the 
problem  of  its  proper  abolition. 

The  African  slave  trade,  dating  from  about  the 
year  1442  (although  it  did  not  flourish  for  a  cen- 
tury or  more),  when  it  was  begun  by  Anthony 
Gronzales,  a  Portuguese,  was  continued  until  the 
present  century  was  well  installed. 

It  was  chartered  and  encouraged  by  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, and  by  her  royal  successors,  against  the  pro- 
test of  the  Southern  colonies,  down  to  the  time  of 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  27 

the  American  Revolution.  The  first  nation  on  the 
civilized  globe  to  protest  against  it  as  monstrous 
was  the  Southern  colony,  Virginia.  Twenty-three 
times  her  people  protested  to  the  crown  in  public 
acts  of  her  Assembly. 

One  of  the  most  scathing  charges,  brought  by 
the  writer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
against  the  crown,  was  that  in  which  he  arraigns 
the  king  of  England  for  having  "  waged  cruel  war 
against  human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most 
sacred  rights  of  life  and  liberty  in  the  persons  of  a 
distant  people  who  never  offended  him,  captivating 
and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another  hemi- 
sphere, or  incurring  a  miserable  death  in  their  trans- 
portation thither. 

"This  piratical  warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  infidel 
powers,  is  the  warfare  of  the  Christian  king  of 
Great  Britain. 

"Determined  to  keep  open  a  market  where  men 
should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his 
negative  for  suppressing  any  legislative  attempt 
to  prohibit  and  restrain  the  execrable  commerce," 
etc. 

This  clause  was  the  product  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, a  Southerner,  and  although  it  was  stricken  out 
in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  two  of  the  South- 
ern colonies,  yet  substantially  the  same  charge 
was  made  in  the  Constitution  of  Virginia,  where  in 
its  preamble  is  set  forth  "  the  detestable  and  insup- 
portable tyranny  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  that 


28  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

he  had  prompted  to  rise  in  rebellion  those  very 
negroes  Avhom  by  any  inhuman  use  of  his  royal 
negative  he  had  refused  us  permission  to  exclude 
by  law." 

If  the  South  had  at  any  previous  time  inclined  to 
profit  by  the  slave  trade,  it  was  only  in  common 
with  the  rest  of  Christendom  —  particularly  with 
Xew  England  —  when  the  most  zealous  and  relig- 
ious were  participants  in  it ;  when  the  Duke  of 
York,  the  future  sovereign  himself,  was  the  head 
of  the  company  chartered  under  the  Great  Seal  of 
England,  and  when  the  queen-mother,  the  queen- 
consort,  Prince  Rupert,  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  and 
the  leading  men  of  the  times  were  incorporators. 

Even  the  godly  John  Newton  was  interested  in 
the  traffic. 

In  the  South,  however,  long  before  Jefferson 
framed  his  famous  arraignment  of  the  king  of 
Great  Britain,  protest  on  protest  had  been  made 
against  the  iniquity,  and  all  the  ingenuity  of  those 
men  who  produced  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had  been 
exercised  to  bring  it  to  an  end. 

The  House  of  Burgesses  often  attempted  to  lay  a 
duty  of  from  £10  to  £20  a  head  on  the  negro 
slaves,  and  against  the  veto  of  the  crown  they 
continued  to  levy  duties,  until  the  oppression  by 
the  crown  culminated,  and  "The  gentlemen  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses  and  the  body  of  merchants 
assembled  in  the  old  capital  of  Virginia  on  the  2d 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  29 

June,  1770,  resolved,  among  other  things,  that  we 
will  not  import  or  bring  into  the  colony,  or  cause  to 
be  imported  or  brought  into  the  colony,  either  by 
sea  or  land,  any  slaves,  or  make  sale  of  any  upon 
commission,  or  purchase  any  slave  or  slaves  that 
may  be  imported  by  others,  after  the  1st  day  of 
November  next,  unless  the  same  have  been  twelve 
months  on  the  continent." 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1772,  the  House  of  Burgesses 
addressed  a  hot  petition  to  the  crown,  "imploring 
his  Majesty's  paternal  assistance  in  averting  a  ca- 
lamity of  a  most  alarming  nature."  It  proceeds : 
"  The  importation  of  slaves  into  the  colonies  from 
the  coast  of  Africa  hath  long  been  considered  as  a 
trade  of  great  inhumanity,  and  under  its  present 
encouragement  we  have  too  much  reason  to  fear 
will  endanger  the  very  existence  of  your  Majesty's 
American  dominions.  We  are  sensible  that  some 
of  your  Majesty's  subjects  of  Great  Britain  may 
reap  emoluments  from  this  sort  of  traffic,  but  when 
we  consider  that  it  greatly  retards  the  settlement 
of  the  colonies  with  more  useful  inhabitants,  and 
may  in  time  have  the  most  destructive  influence, 
we  presume  to  hope  that  the  interest  of  a  few  will 
be  disregarded  when  placed  in  competition  with  the 
security  and  happiness  of  such  numbers  of  your 
Majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  servants.  Deeply  im- 
pressed with  these  sentiments,  we  most  humbly  be- 
seech your  Majesty  to  remove  all  those  restraints 
on  your  Majesty's  governors  of  the  colony  which 


30  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

inhibit  their  assenting  to  such  laws  as  might  check 
so  very  pernicious  a  commerce." 

It  was  not  until  the  following  year  that  the  Phil- 
adelphia petition  to  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly 
was  gotten  up,  and  it  accords  the  credit  to  the 
Southern  colony  by  asking  similar  action  with  that 
of  "  the  province  of  Virginia,  whose  House  of  Bur- 
gesses have  lately  petitioned  the  king." 

On  the  5th  of  October,  1778,  Virginia  passed  an 
act  forbidding  the  further  importation  of  slaves,  by 
land  or  water,  under  a  penalty  of  £1000  from  the 
seller  and  £500  from  the  buyer,  and  freedom  to 
the  slave :  thus  giving  to  the  world  the  first  ex- 
ample of  an  attempt  by  legislative  enactment  to 
destroy  the  slave  trade. 

When  the  vote  was  taken  in  the  Federal  Congress 
on  the  resolution  to  postpone  the  prohibition  of  the 
trade  to  the  year  1808,  Virginia  used  all  her  influ- 
ence to  defeat  the  postponement,  and  it  was  carried 
by  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Connec- 
ticut voting  with  Maryland,  the  Carolinas,  and 
Georgia.  John  Adams,  writing  of  a  speech  of 
James  Otis  in  1761,  says  :  "  Nor  were  the  poor 
negroes  forgotten.  Not  a  Quaker  in  Philadelphia, 
nor  Mr.  Jefferson  of  Virginia,  ever  asserted  the 
rights  of  negroes  in  stronger  terms.  Young  as  I 
was  and  ignorant  as  I  was,  I  shuddered  at  the  doc- 
trine he  taught." 

The  final  prohibition  of  the  slave  trade  by  act  of 
Congress  was  brought  about  through  the  influence 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  31 

of  President  Jefferson  and  by  the  active  efforts  of 
Virginians.  And  greatly  to  the  labors  of  the  repre- 
sentatives from  Virginia  was  due  the  final  extinc- 
tion of  the  vile  traffic  through  the  act  of  Congress 
declaring  it  to  be  piracy,  five  years  before  Great 
Britain  took  similar  action  with  regard  to  her 
subjects. 

Such  is  the  actual  record  of  the  much-vilified 
South  relating  to  the  African  slave  trade,  taken 
from  official  records. 

Now  as  to  slavery  itself.  We  have  seen  how  it 
was  brought  upon  the  South  without  its  fault,  and 
continued  to  be  forced  upon  her  against  her  pro- 
tests. Let  us  for  a  moment  investigate  the  facts 
connected  with  its  continuance. 

The  gradual  system  of  emancipation  adopted  at 
the  North  had  undoubtedly  led  to  many  of  the  slaves 
being  shipped  off  to  the  South  and  sold.  When, 
therefore,  after  this  "abolition,"  the  movement, 
from  being  confined  to  the  comparatively  small 
band  of  liberators  who  were  actuated  by  pure  prin- 
ciple, extended  to  those  who  had  been  their  perse- 
cutors, it  aroused  a  suspicion  at  the  South  which 
blinded  it  to  a  just  judgment  of  the  case. 

If  the  South  maintained  slavery  unjustifiably, 
during  its  continuance,  instead  of  its  unnecessary 
horrors  being,  as  is  popularly  believed,  augmented 
by  the  natural  brutality  of  the  Southerner,  the  real 
facts  are  that  the  system  was  at  the  South  perhaps 
fraught  with  less  atrocity  than  it  was  whilst  it  con- 
tinued at  the  North. 


32  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

In  the  earliest  period  of  the  institution  it  was 
justified  on  the  ground  of  the  slaves  being  heathen, 
and  a  doubt  was  raised  whether  baptism  would  not 
operate  to  emancipate.  At  the  South  it  was  adju- 
dicated that  it  did  not  so  operate ;  but  long  prior 
to  this  act  negroes  were  admitted  to  the  Church. 
In  the  leading  colony  at  the  North  baptism  was  at 
the  time  expressly  prohibited.  The  necessary  con- 
comitants of  slavery  were  wretched  enough,  and 
the  continuance  of  the  system  proved  the  curse  of 
the  fair  land  where  it  flourished,  but  to  the  Afri- 
can himself  it  was  a  blessing ;  it  gave  his  race  the 
only  civilization  it  has  had  since  the  dawn  of 
history. 

The  statutory  laws  relating  to  slavery  at  the 
South  are  held  up  as  proof  of  the  brutality  with 
which  they  were  treated  even  under  the  law.  But 
these  laws  were  not  more  cruel  than  were  the  laws 
of  England  at  the  period  when  they  were  enacted ; 
they  were  rarely  put  into  practical  execution ;  and, 
at  least,  Southerners  never  tolerated  wholesale 
burning  at  the  stake  as  a  legal  punishment,  as  was 
done  in  New  York  as  late  as  1741,  when  fourteen 
negroes  were  burnt  at  the  stake  on  the  flimsy  testi- 
mony of  a  half-crazy  servant  girl ;  and  as  was  done 
in  Massachusetts  as  late  as  1755,  when  a  negro  was 
burnt  for  murder. 

In  the  cotton  and  sugar  States,  where  the  negroes 
were  congregated  in  large  numbers,  and  where  a 
certain  degree  of  absenteeism  prevailed,  there  was 
naturally  and  necessarily  more  hardship. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  33 

African  slavery  was  tolerated  in  Virginia  and 
the  Carolinas,  but  it  received  its  first  express  legis- 
lative sanction  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

This  Commonwealth,  which  has  done  so  much 
to  advance  civilization,  must  bear  the  distinction 
of  being  the  first  American  colony  to  proclaim 
slavery ;  to  endorse  the  slave  trade  by  legal  sanc- 
tion, and  to  build  and  equip  the  first  slave-ship 
which  sailed  from  an  American  port.  Even  the 
Mayflower,  whose  timbers  one  might  have  supposed 
would  be  regarded  as  sanctified  by  the  holy  fathers 
whose  feet  first  touched  Plymouth  Rock,  was,  ac- 
cording to  tradition,  turned  to  a  more  secular  use, 
and  is  reported  by  general  tradition  to  have  been 
subsequently  employed  as  an  African  slaver. 
Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  the  first  American 
slaver  was  the  Salem  ship  The  Desire,  which  was 
built  and  equipped  at  Marblehead  in  1636,  and 
was  the  prototype  of  a  long  line  of  slavers,  in 
which,  through  many  decades,  continuing  long  after 
slavery  was  abolished  in  New  England,  and  after 
the  Southern  States  were  piling  protest  on  protest 
and  act  on  act  to  inhibit  the  slave  trade,  New 
England  shippers,  in  violation  of  law,  plied  their 
hellish  traffic  between  the  African  coast  and  the 
slave-holding  countries. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  horrors  of  African 
slavery  in  the  South,  it  was  in  its  worst  form  and 
under  its  most  inhuman  surroundings  a  mild  and 


34  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

beneficent  system,  benevolent  in  its  features  and 
philanthropic  in  its  characteristics,  when  compared 
with  the  slave  trade  itself.  The  horrors  of  "the 
middle  passage,"  when  human  beings,  often  to  the 
number  of  eight  or  nine  hundred,  were  "piled 
almost  in  bulk  on  water-casks,"  or  were  packed 
between  the  hatches  in  a  space  where  there  was 
"not  room  for  a  man  to  sit  unless  inclining  his 
head  forward,  their  food  half  a  pint  of  rice  per  day, 
with  one  pint  of  water,"  with  "a  blazing  sun  above, 
the  boiling  sea  beneath,  a  withering  air  around," 
had  never  been  equalled  before,  and  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  will  never  be  again. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  defend  slavery,  to  defend 
the  race  which  found  it  thrust  upon  it,  contrary  to 
what  it  deemed  its  rights,  and  which,  after  long  and 
futile  effort  to  rid  itself  of  it,  in  accordance  with 
what  it  held  to  be  consistent  at  once  with  its  rights 
and  its  security,  refused  to  permit  any  outside 
interference.  This  was  not  primarily  because  it 
was  wedded  to  slavery,  but  because  it  tolerated  no 
invasion  of  its  rights  under  any  form  or  upon  any 
pretext. 

Vermont  was  the  first  State  to  lead  off  with  eman- 
cipation in  1777.  By  the  census  of  1790  but 
seventeen  slaves  remained  in  the  State.  New 
Hampshire  and  Massachusetts  failed  to  fix  a  statu- 
tory period;  but  the  census  of  1790  gives  the 
former  State  158  slaves,  "  and  one  of  these  was  still 
reported  in  1840." 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  35 

Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  about  the  same 
time  adopted  a  gradual  plan  of  emancipation.  The 
latter  State  held  2759  slaves  in  1790  —  too  many 
to  admit  of  immediate  emancipation. 

Pennsylvania  had  by  the  same  census  3737  slaves, 
and,  recognizing  the  peril  of  injecting  such  a  num- 
ber of  freedmen  into  the  body  politic,  provided  in 
1780,  by  an  act  said  to  have  been  drafted,  by  Benja- 
min Franklin,  that  all  slaves  born  after  that  time 
should  be  free  when  they  attained  the  age  of 
twenty-eight  years.  The  census  of  1840  showed 
sixty-four  still  held  in  slavery. 

In  New  York,  by  an  act  passed  in  1799,  the  future 
issue  of  slaves  were  set  free  —  males  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight  and  females  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years.  In  1790  there  were  21,324  slaves  in  the 
State.  In  1800,  before  the  act  of  emancipation 
could  take  effect,  this  number  had  fallen  off  981. 

New  Jersey  in  1790  held  11,433  slaves.  In  1804 
her  act  of  gradual  emancipation  was  adopted.  She 
had  674  slaves  in  1840  and  236  in  1850. 

This  movement  was  largely  owing  in  its  incep- 
tion to  the  efforts  of  the  Quakers,  who  have  devoted 
to  peace  those  energies  which  others  have  given  to 
war,  and  who  have  ever  been  moved  by  the  spirit 
to  take  the  initiative  in  all  action  which  tends  to 
the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  human 
race. 

While  this  spirit  of  emancipation  was  passing 
over  the  Xorth,  the  South,  to  whose  action  in  as- 


36  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

serting  general  freedom  and  universal  civil  equality 
was  due  the  impulse,  was  stirring  in  the  same  di- 
rection. With  her,  however,  the  problem  was  far 
more  difficult  of  solution,  and  although  she  ad- 
dressed herself  to  it  with  energy  and  sincerity,  she 
proved  finally  unequal  to  the  task,  and  it  was  re- 
served, in  the  providence  of  an  all-wise  God,  for  the 
bitter  scalpel  of  war  to  remove  that  which  had 
served  its  purpose  and  was  slowly  sapping  the  life- 
blood  of  the  South. 

In  the  New  England  and  Northern  States,  there 
were,  by  the  census  of  1790,  less  than  42,000  slaves : 
in  Virginia  alone,  by  the  same  census,  there  were 
293,427  slaves  —  about  seven  times  the  number 
contained  in  all  the  others  put  together. 

How  were  they  to  be  freed  with  advantage  to  the 
slaves  and  security  to  the  State  ? 

John  Randolph  of  Eoanoke  described  the  situa- 
tion aptly  when  he  said  we  were  holding  a  wolf  by 
the  ears,  and  it  was  equally  dangerous  to  let  go 
and  to  hold  on. 

The  problem  was  stupendous.  But  it  was  not 
despaired  of.  Many  masters  manumitted  their 
slaves,  the  example  being  set  by  numbers  of  the 
same  benevolent  sect  to  which  reference  has  been 
made.  By  the  census  of  1781  there  were  in  Vir- 
ginia 12,866  free  negroes.  Schemes  of  general 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  Virginia  had  been 
proposed  to  the  legislature  by  Jefferson  in  1776; 
by  William  Craighead,  and  by  Dr.  William  Thorn- 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  87 

ton  in  1785,  whilst  other  schemes  were  proposed  by 
St.  George  Tucker  in  1796,  by  Thomas  Jefferson 
Randolph  in  1832,  and  by  others  from  time  to  time. 
The  vast  body  of  slaves  in  the  country,  however, 
rendered  it  a  matter  so  perilous  as  to  prevent  the 
schemes  from  ever  being  effectuated. 

The  most  feasible  plan  appeared  to  be  one  that 
should  lead  to  the  colonization  of  the  race  in  Africa ; 
and  the  American  Colonization  Society  was  organ- 
ized in  Washington  on  the  1st  of  January,  1817, 
with  Bushrod  Washington  president,  and  William 
H.  Crawford,  Henry  Clay,  John  Taylor,  and  Gen- 
eral John  Mason,  John  Eager  Howard,  Samuel  F. 
Smith,  and  John  C.  Herbert  of  Maryland,  and  An- 
drew Jackson  of  Tennessee  among  its  vice-presi- 
dents. 

Auxiliary  societies  were  organized  all  over  Vir- 
ginia, John  Marshall  being  the  president  of  that 
established  in  Richmond,  and  ex-governors  Pleas- 
ants  and  Tyler  being  vice-presidents.  James  Madi- 
son, James  Monroe,  and  John  Tyler  all  threw  the 
weight  of  their  great  influence  to  carry  out  the 
purposes  of  the  society  and  make  it  successful. 
Strange  to  say,  every  act  on  the  part  of  the  South 
leading  towards  liberation  was  viewed  with  suspi- 
cion by  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North,  and  every 
step  in  that  direction  was  opposed  by  them.  Later 
a  new  and  independent  State  organization  was 
formed,  called  the  Colonization  Society  of  Virginia. 
Its  president  was  John  Marshall ;  its  vice-presi- 


38  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

dents,  James  Madison,  James  Monroe,  James  Pleas- 
ants,  John  Tyler,  Hugh  Nelson,  and  others;  and 
its  roll  of  membership  embraced  the  most  influen- 
tial men  in  the  State. 

Everything  was  looking  towards  the  gradual  but 
final  extinction  of  African  slavery.  It  was  pre- 
vented by  the  attitude  of  the  Northern  Abolition- 
ists. Their  furious  onslaughts,  accompanied  by  the 
illegal  circulation  of  literature  calculated  to  excite 
the  negroes  to  revolt,  and  by  the  incursions  of 
emissaries  whose  avowed  object  was  the  liberation 
of  the  slaves,  but  the  effect  of  whose  action  was  the 
instigation  of  the  race  to  rise  and  fling  off  the  yoke 
by  rebellion  and  murder,  chilled  this  feeling,  the 
balance  of  political  power  came  into  question,  and 
the  temper  of  the  South  changed. 

From  this  movement  dates  the  unremittingly 
hostile  attitude  of  the  two  sections  towards  each 
other.  Before  there  had  been  antagonism ;  now 
there  was  open  hostility.  Before  there  had  been 
conflicting  rights,  but  they  had  beefc  compromised 
and  adjusted ;  from  this  time  there  was  no  compro- 
mise. The  Northerner  was  a  "  miserable  Yankee  " 
and  the  Southerner  was  a  "  brutal  slave-holder." 

The  two  sections  grew  to  be  as  absolutely  sep- 
arated as  though  a  sea  rolled  between  them.  The 
antagonism  increased  steadily  and  became  intensi- 
fied. It  extended  far  beyond  the  original  cause,  and 
finally  became  a  factor  in  every  problem,  social  and 
political,  which  existed  in  the  whole  land,  affecting 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  39 

its  results  and  often  controlling  its  solution ;  forc- 
ing the  two  sections  wider  and  wider  apart,  and 
eventually  dividing  them  by  an  impassable  gulf. 
Slavery,  the  prime  cause,  sank  into  insignificance 
in  the  multitudinous  and  potent  differences  which 
reared  themselves  between  the  two  sections.  It 
was  employed  simply  as  the  battle-cry  of  the  two 
opponents  who  stood  arrayed  against  each  other 
on  a  much  broader  question.  The  real  fight  was 
whether  the  conservative  South  should,  with  its 
doctrine  of  States  rights,  of  original  State  sov- 
ereignty, rule  the  country  according  to  a  literal 
reading  of  the  Constitution,  or  whether  the  North 
should  govern  according  to  a  more  liberal  construc- 
tion, adapted,  as  it  claimed,  by  necessity  to  the 
new  and  more  advanced  conditions  of  the  nation. 
Finally  it  culminated.  After  convulsions  which 
would  have  long  before  destroyed  a  less  stable 
nation,  the  explosion  came. 

The  South,  outraged  at  continual  violation  of 
the  Constitution,  declared  that  it  would  no  longer 
act  in  unison  with  the  North,  and,  after  grave  delib- 
eration and  hesitation,  rendered  proper  by  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  step  contemplated,  the  far  Southern 
States  exercised  their  sovereign  right  and  dissolved 
their  connection  with  the  Union.  Then  came  the 
President's  call  for  troops,  and  finding  themselves 
forced  to  secede  or  to  make  war  upon  their  sister 
States,  the  border  States  withdrew. 

The  North  made  war  upon  the  South,  and,  backed 


4t  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

by  the  resources  and  the  sentiment  of  the  world, 
after  four  years  compelled  her  to  recede  from  her 
action. 

Such  in  outline  is  the  history  of  the  South  as  it 
relates  to  slavery. 

What  has  taken  place  since  belongs  partly  to  the 
New  South  and  partly  to  the  Old  South. 

The  Old  South  made  this  people.  One  hundred 
years  ago  this  nation,  like  Athene,  sprang  full 
panoplied  from  her  brain. 

It  was  the  South  that  planned  first  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  colonies,  then  their  consolidation,  and 
finally  their  establishment  as  free  and  independent 
States. 

It  was  a  Southerner,  Henry,  who  first  struck  the 
note  of  independence.  It  was  a  Southerner,  Nelson, 
who  first  moved,  and  the  Convention  of  Virginia,  a 
Southern  colony,  which  first  adopted  the  resolution 
"  that  the  delegates  appointed  to  represent  this 
colony  in  General  Congress  be  instructed  to  pro- 
pose to  that  respectable  body  to  declare  the  United 
Colonies  free  and  independent  States,  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  or  dependence  on  the  crown 
or  Parliament  of  Great  Britain." 

It  was  a  Southern  colony  which  first  emblazoned 
on  her  standard  the  emblem  of  her  principle,  Vir- 
ginia for  Constitutional  Liberty. 

It  was  a  Southerner  who  wrote  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

These  acts  created  revolution,  and  a  Southerner 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  41 

led  the  armies  of  the  revolutionists  to  victory  ;  and 
when  victory  had  been  won  it  was  to  Southern 
intellect  and  Southern  patriotism  which  created 
the  Federal  Constitution,  that  was  due  the  final 
consolidation  of  the  separated  and  disjointed  ele- 
ments extended  along  the  Atlantic  coast  into  one 
grand  union  of  republics  known  as  the  United  States. 

From  this  time  the  South  was  as  prominent  in 
the  affairs  of  the  nation  as  she  had  been  when  she 
stood,  a  rock  of  defence,  between  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  crown  and  the  liberties  of  the  colonies. 

Of  the  Presidents  who  had  governed  the  United 
States  up  to  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  the  Old 
South  had  contributed  Washington,  Jefferson,  Mad- 
ison, Monroe,  Jackson,  Harrison,  Tyler,  Polk,  and 
Taylor,  and  the  cabinets  had  been  filled  with  the 
representatives  of  the  same  civilization.  In  the 
only  two  wars  which  had  ruffled  the  peaceful  sur- 
face of  the  nation's  course  during  this  period  the 
leading  generals  had  been  Southerners,  and  of  the 
Chief  Justices,  John  Marshall  and  Roger  B.  Taney 
had  presided  successively  over  the  supreme  bench  of 
the  United  States  from  1801,  bringing  to  bear  upon 
the  decisions  of  that  tribunal  the  force  of  their 
great  minds,  and  the  philosophic  thought  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  civilization  of  which  they 
were  such  distinguished  exponents. 

Next  to  George  Washington  John  Marshall 
probably  did  more  than  any  other  one  man  to  estab- 
lish the  principles  on  which  this  government  is 


42  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

founded ;  for  by  his  decisions  he  settled  the  mutual 
rights  of  the  States  on  a  firm  and  equitable  basis, 
and  determined  forever  those  questions  which  might 
have  strained  the  bonds  of  the  young  government. 

To  the  South  is  due  the  fact  that  Louisiana  is 
not  now  a  French  republic,  and  that  the  Mississippi 
rolls  its  whole  length  through  the  free  land  of  the 
United  States  ;  to  the  South  that  the  vast  empire 
of  Texas  is  not  a  hostile  government ;  to  the  South 
is  due  the  establishment  of  this  Union  in  its  integ- 
rity, and  of  the  doctrines  upon  which  it  is  main- 
tained. 

Thus  in  the  Council  chamber  and  the  camp,  in 
the  forum  or  on  the  field  of  battle,  opposing  invad- 
ing armies  or  fighting  for  those  principles  which 
are  ingrained  in  the  very  web  and  woof  of  our 
national  life,  the  representatives  of  that  contemned 
civilization  always  took  the  lead.  In  the  great 
Civil  War  the  two  greatest  men  who  stood  for  the 
Union,  and  to  whom  its  preservation  was  due,  were 
in  large  part  the  product  of  this  civilization.  Both 
Grant  and  Lincoln  —  the  great  general  and  the  still 
greater  Pjesident  —  sprang  from  Southern  loins. 

Can  the  New  South  make  a  better  showing  than 
this,  or  trace  its  lineage  to  a  stronger  source  ? 

But  as  grand  as  is  this  exhibition  of  her  genius, 
this  is  not  her  best  history.  The  record  of  battles 
and  of  splendid  deeds  may  serve  to  arrest  admira- 
tion and  to  mark  the  course  of  events,  as  the  con- 
stellations in  the  arch  above  us  appear  to  the 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  43 

beholder  nobler  than  the  infinite  multitude  of  the 
stars  that  fill  the  boundless  reaches  between ;  but 
the  true  record  of  the  life  of  that  civilization  is 
deeper  and  worthier  than  this. 

As  the  azure  fields  that  stretch  away  through 
space  are  filled  with  stars  which  refuse  their  individ- 
ual rays  to  the  naked  eye,  yet  are  ever  sending 
light  through  all  the  boundless  realms  of  space,  so 
under  this  brilliant  exhibition  of  the  South' s  pub- 
lic career  lies  the  record  of  a  life,  of  a  civilization 
so  pure,  so  noble,  that  the  world  to-day  holds  noth- 
ing equal  to  it. 

After  less  than  a  generation  it  has  become  among 
friends  and  enemies  the  recognized  field  of  romance. 

Its  chief  attribute  was  conservatism.  Others 
were  courage,  fidelity,  purity,  hospitality,  magna- 
nimity, honesty,  and  truth. 

Whilst  it  proudly  boasted  itself  democratic,  it 
was  distinctly  and  avowedly  anti-radical  —  holding 
fast  to  those  things  which  were  proved,  and  stand- 
ing with  its  conservatism  a  steadfast  bulwark 
against  all  novelties  and  aggressions. 

No  dangerous  isms  flourished  in  that  placid 
atmosphere ;  against  that  civilization  innovations 
beat  vainly  as  the  waves  lash  themselves  to  spray 
against  the  steadfast  shore. 

Slavery  itself,  which  proved  the  spring  of  woes 
unnumbered,  and  which  clogged  the  wheels  of  prog- 
ress and  withdrew  the  South  from  sympathy  with 
the  outer  world,  christianized  a  race  and  was  the 


44  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

automatic  balance-wheel  between  labor  and  capital 
which  prevented,  on  the  one  hand,  the  excessive 
accumulation  of  wealth,  with  its  attendant  perils, 
and  on  the  other  hand  prevented  the  antithesis  of 
the  immense  pauper  class  which  work  for  less  than 
the  wage  of  the  slave  without  any  of  his  inci- 
dental compensations. 

In  the  sea-island  cotton  and  rice  districts,  and  the 
sugar  sections,  it  is  true  that  there  was  a  class  which 
accumulated  wealth  and  lived  in  a  splendor  un- 
known to  the  people  of  Virginia  and  of  the  interior 
portions  of  the  cotton  and  sugar  States ;  but  the 
proportion  of  these  to  the  entire  population  of  the 
South  who  in  the  aggregate  made  up  the  Southern 
civilization  is  so  small  that  it  need  scarcely  be 
taken  into  account. 

That  the  Southerner  was  courageous  the  whole 
world  admits.  His  friends  claim  it ;  his  foes  know 
it.  Probably  never  has  such  an  army  existed  as 
that  which  followed  Lee  and  Jackson  from  the 
time  when,  march-stained  and  battle-scarred,  it 
flung  itself  across  the  swamps  of  the  Chickahom- 
iny  and  stood  a  wall  of  fire  between  McClellan  and 
the  hard-pressed  capital  of  the  Confederate  South. 

It  was  not  discipline,  it  was  not  esprit  de  corps, 
it  was  not  traditional  renown,  it  was  not  mere  gen- 
eralship which  carried  that  army  through.  It  was 
personal,  individual  courage  and  devotion  to  prin- 
ciple which  welded  it  together  and  made  it  invin- 
cible, until  it  was  almost  extirpated. 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  45 

The  mills  of  battle  and  of  grim  starvation  ground 
it  into  dust;  yet  even  then  there  remained  a  valor 
which  might  well  have  inspired  that  famous  legend 
which  was  one  of  the  traditions  of  the  conflict 
between  the  Church  and  its  assailants  in  earlier 
ages,  that  after  the  destruction  of  their  bodies 
their  fierce  and  indomitable  spirits  continued  the 
desperate  struggle  in  the  realms  of  air. 

The  tendency  to  hospitality  was  not  local  nor  nar- 
row ;  it  was  the  characteristic  of  the  entire  people, 
and  its  concomitant  was  a  generosity  so  general  and 
so  common  in  its  application  that  it  created  the 
quality  of  magnanimity  as  a  race  characteristic. 

It  was  these  qualities  to  which  the  South  was 
indebted  for  her  controlling  influence  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  country,  throughout  that  long  period 
which  terminated  only  when  the  North  abrogated 
the  solemn  compact  which  bound  the  two  sections 
together. 

No  section  of  this  country  more  absolutely, 
loyally,  and  heartily  accepts  the  fact  that  slavery 
and  secession  can  never  again  become  practical 
questions  in  this  land,  than  does  that  which  a  gen- 
eration ago  flung  all  its  weight  into  the  opposite 
scale.  But  to  pretend  that  we  did  not  have  the 
legal,  constitutional  right  to  secede  from  the  Union 
is  to  stultify  ourselves  in  falsification  of  history. 

If  any  portion  of  this  nation  doubt  the  South's 
devotion  to  the  Union,  let  it  attempt  to  impair  the 
Union.  If  the  South  is  ever  to  be  once  more  the 


46  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

leader  of  this  nation,  she  must  cherish  the  traditional 
glory  of  her  former  station,  and  prove  to  the  world 
that  her  revolution  was  not  a  rebellion,  but  was 
fought  for  a  principle  upon  which  she  was  estab- 
lished as  her  foundation-stone  —  the  sacred  right  of 
s  elf -go  vern  m  ent. 

Government  was  the  passion  of  the  Southerner. 
Trained  from  his  earliest  youth  by  the  care  and 
mastery  of  slaves,  and  the  charge  of  affairs  which 
demanded  the  qualities  of  mastership,  the  control 
of  men  became  habitual  with  him,  and  domination 
became  an  instinct.  Consequently,  the  only  fields 
which  he  regarded  as  desirable  were  those  which 
afforded  him  the  opportunity  for  its  exercise. 

Thus  every  young  Southerner  of  good  social  con- 
nection who  was  too  poor  to  live  without  work,  or 
too  ambitious  to  be  contented  with  his  plantation, 
devoted  himself  to  the  learned  professions  —  the 
law  being  the  most  desirable  as  offering  the  best 
opportunity  for  forensic  display,  and  being  the 
surest  stepping-stone  to  political  preferment. 

Being  emotional  and  impulsive,  the  Southerner 
was  as  susceptible  to  the  influences  of  rhetoric  as 
was  the  Athenian,  and  public  speaking  was  culti- 
vated as  always  a  necessary  qualification  for  public 
position. 

The  South  on  this  account  became  celebrated  for 
its  eloquence,  which,  if  somewhat  fervid  when 
judged  by  the  severe  standard  of  later  criticism, 
was,  when  measured  by  its  immediate  effects,  ex- 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  47 

traordinarily  successful.  It  contributed  to  preserve 
through  the  decades  preceding  the  war  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  slave-holding  South,  even  against  the 
rapidly  growing  aggressiveness  of  the  North,  with 
the  sentiment  of  the  modern  world  at  its  back. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  make  reference  to  those 
orators  who  in  the  public  halls  of  the  nation,  and  in 
their  native  States,  whenever  questions  of  moment 
were  agitated,  evoked  thunders  of  applause  alike 
from  rapturous  friends  and  dazzled  enemies.  Their 
fame  is  now  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  country. 

But  in  every  circuit  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  South  are  handed  down,  even  now, 
traditions  of  speakers  who,  by  the  impassioned  elo- 
quence of  their  appeals,  carried  juries  against  both 
law  and  evidence,  or  on  the  hustings,  in  political 
combat,  swept  away  immense  majorities  by  the  irre- 
sistible impetuosity  of  their  oratory. 

That  the  Old  South  was  honest,  no  sensible  man 
who  reads  the  history  of  that  time  can  doubt,  and 
no  honest  man  will  deny.  Its  whole  course  through- 
out its  existence,  whatever  other  criticism  it  may 
be  subjected  to,  was  one  of  honesty  and  of  honor. 
Even  under  the  perils  of  public  life,  which  try 
men's  souls,  the  personal  integrity  which  was  a 
fruit  of  the  civilization  in  which  it  flourished  was 
never  doubted. 

In  confirmation  of  this  proposition,  appeal  can  be 
made  with  confidence  to  the  history  of  the  public 
men  of  the  South.  They  were  generally  poor  men, 


48  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

frequently  reckless  men,  not  infrequently  insolvent 
men ;  but  their  bitterest  enemies  never  aspersed 
their  honesty. 

There  was  not  one  of  them  who  could  not  say, 
with  Laurens  of  South  Carolina,  "I  am  a  poor  man 
—  God  knows  I  am  a  poor  man ;  but  your  king  is 
not  rich  enough  to  buy  me ! " 

In  this  they  were  the  representatives  of  their 
people.  The  faintest  suspicion  of  delinquency  in 
this  respect  would  have  blasted  the  chances  of  any 
man  at  the  South,  however  powerful  or  however 
able  he  might  have  been,  and  have  consigned  him 
to  everlasting  infamy.  Whatever  assaults  may  be 
made  on  that  civilization,  its  final  defence  is  this  : 
The  men  were  honorable  and  the  women  pure.  So 
highly  were  these  qualities  esteemed,  that  the  as- 
persion of  either  was  deemed  sufficient  cause  to 
take  life. 

If  it  has  appeared  to  modern  civilization  that 
life  has  not  been  held  sufficiently  sacred  at  the 
South,  this  may  be  urged  in  her  defence:  that  a 
comparative  statement,  based  on  the  statistics,  does 
not  show  that  homicide  is,  or  has  ever  been,  more 
general  at  the  South  than  at  the  North,  when  all 
classes  are  embraced  in  the  statement;  and  if  it 
has  been  tolerated  among  the  upper  classes  under 
a  form  which  has  now  happily  passed  away,  it  was 
in  obedience  to  a  sentiment  which  although  grossly 
abused,  had  this  much  justification  —  that  it  placed 
honor  above  even  life. 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  49 

The  principal  element  of  weakness  in  the  civili- 
zation of  the  Old  South  was  that  it  was  not  pro- 
ductive in  material  wealth.  The  natural  agricul- 
tural resources  of  the  country  were  so  great  and  so 
suited  to  the  genius  of  the  people  that  there  were 
no  manufactures  to  speak  of. 

The  tendency  of  the  civilization  was  the  reduc- 
tion of  everything  to  principles,  and  not  to  disturb 
them  by  experiment.  In  this  way  there  was  an 
enormous  waste.  The  physical  resources  of  the 
country  and  the  intellectual  resources  of  its  people 
were  equally  subject  to  this  fault. 

Whilst  oratory  flourished  to  a  greater  extent 
than  under  any  other  civilization  which  has  ex- 
isted since  the  invention  of  the  printing-press, 
there  was  no  Southern  literature.  Rather,  there 
were  no  publishers  and  no  public.  There  were 
critics  who  might  have  shone  on  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  and  writers  who  might  have  made  an 
Augustan  literature;  but  the  atmosphere  was 
against  them. 

A  Virginian  farmer  sat  down  and  wrote  the  great 
Bill  of  Rights,  the  finest  State  paper  ever  penned 
on  this  continent ;  a  Virginian  was  called  on  to  draft 
a  paper  in  the  absence  of  another  who  was  to  have 
drawn  it,  and  he  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. Another,  a  naval  officer,  laid  down  the 
laws  of  the  winds  and  tides,  and  charted  the  path- 
less deep  into  highways,  so  that  men  come  and  go  as 
securely  as  on  dry  land.  There  was  genius  enough, 


50 


but  the  spirit  of  the  time  was  against  it.  In  the 
main  the  authors  wrote  for  their  diversion,  and  the 
effort  was  not  repeated.  The  environments  were 
not  conducive  to  literary  production,  and  it  was  not 
called  into  being.  The  harpers  were  present  at  the 
feast,  but  no  one  called  for  the  song. 

It  was  to  this  that  the  South  owed  her  final 
defeat.  It  was  for  lack  of  a  literature  that  she 
was  left  behind  in  the  great  race  for  outside  sup- 
port, and  that  in  the  supreme  moment  of  her  ex- 
istence she  found  herself  arraigned  at  the  bar  of 
the  world  without  an  advocate  and  without  a  de- 
fence. 

Only  study  the  course  of  the  contest  against  the 
South  and  you  cannot  fail  to  see  how  she  was  con- 
quered by  the  pen  rather  than  by  the  sword ;  and 
how  unavailing  against  the  resources  of  the  world, 
which  the  North  commanded  through  the  sym- 
pathy it  had  enlisted,  was  the  valiance  of  that 
heroic  army,  which,  if  courage  could  have  availed, 
had  withstood  the  universe. 

That  Southern  army  was  worn  away  as  a  blade  is 
worn  by  use  and  yet  retains  its  temper  while  but  a 
fragment  exists. 

When  the  supreme  moment  came,  the  South  had 
the  world  against  her ;  the  North  had  brought  to 
its  aid  the  sympathy  of  Christendom,  and  its  force 
was  as  the  gravitation  of  the  earth — imperceptible, 
yet  irresistible. 

From  their   standpoint  they  were  right,  as  we 


THE  OLD   SOUTH  51 

were  right  from  ours.  Slavery  was  a  great  barrier 
which  kept  out  the  light,  and  the  North  wrote  of 
us  in  the  main  only  what  it  believed. 

If  it  was  ignorant,  it  is  our  fault  that  it  was  not 
enlightened.  We  denied  and  fought,  but  we  did 
not  argue.  Be  this,  however,  our  justification,  that 
slavery  did  not  admit  of  argument.  Argument 
meant  destruction. 

The  future  historian  of  the  Old  South  and  of  its 
civilization  is  yet  to  arise. 

If  in  this  audience  to-night  there  be  any  young 
son  of  the  South  in  whose  veins  there  beats  the 
blood  of  a  soldier  who  perilled  his  life  for  that 
civilization  which  has  been  so  inadequately  out- 
lined, and  who,  as  he  has  heard  from  his  mother's 
lips  the  story  of  his  father's  glorious  sacrifice,  has 
felt  his  pulses  throb  and  his  heart  burn  with  noble 
aspiration,  let  him  know  that  though  he  may  never, 
like  his  father,  be  called  upon  to  defend  his  princi- 
ples with  his  life,  yet  he  has  before  him  a  work  not 
less  noble,  a  career  not  less  glorious :  the  true 
recording  of  that  story,  of  that  civilization  whose 
history  has  never  yet  been  written  —  the  history  of 
the  Old  South. 

What  nobler  task  can  he  set  himself  than  this  — 
to  preserve  from  oblivion,  or  worse,  from  misrep- 
resentation, a  civilization  which  produced  as  its 
natural  fruit  Washington  and  Lee ! 

It  is  said  that  in  all  history  there  is  no  finer 
flight  of  human  eloquence  than  that  in  which  the 


52  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

Athenian  orator  aroused  his  countrymen  by  his 
appeal  to  the  spirits  of  their  sires  who  fell  at  Mara- 
thon. Shall  not  some  one  preserve  the  history  of 
our  fathers  who  fell  in  what  they  deemed  a  cause 
as  sacred  ?  Can  any  good  come  forth  of  a  genera- 
tion that  believe  that  their  fathers  were  traitors  ? 
I  thank  God  that  the  sword  of  the  South  will 
nevermore  be  drawn  except  in  defence  of  this 
Union  ;  but  I  thank  God  equally  that  it  is  now 
without  a  stain.  The  time  will  come  when  the 
Xorth  as  well  as  the  South  shall  know  that  this 
Union  is  more  secure  because  of  the  one  heritage 
that  our  fathers  have  left  us  —  the  heritage  of  an 
untarnished  sword. 

If  he  shall  feel  the  impulse  stirring  in  his  bosom 
to  consecrate  to  this  work  the  powers  which  have 
been  nurtured  at  the  nourishing  breasts  of  this 
bountiful  mother,  there  can  be  no  fitter  place  for 
his  sacrament  than  these  hallowed  walls  —  no  bet- 
ter time  than  the  present. 

Within  these  sacred  precincts  three  monuments 
meet  his  gaze.  Each  of  them,  by  coincidence,  is 
dedicated  to  the  memory  of  one  who  had  learnt  by 
heart  the  lesson  which  that  history  teaches  when 
rightly  read,  —  the  devotion  of  life  to  duty. 

One  of  these  was  the  leader  of  armies,  the  noblest 
character  the  South  has  produced,  the  great  Lee; 
who,  putting  aside  proffers  of  wealth  and  place  and 
honor,  gave  himself  to  teaching  the  South  the  sub- 
lime beauty  of  devotion  to  duty  — that  lesson  whose 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  58 

most  admirable  example  was  his  own  life.  One 
was  the  surgeon,  James  M.  Ambler,  who  refused  to 
accept  his  life,  and  died  amid  the  snows  of  the  Lena 
Delta,  pistol  in  hand,  guarding  the  bodies  of  his 
dead  comrades.  Who  does  not  remember  the  story 
of  the  young  surgeon,  kneeling  amid  the  perpetual 
snows,  pointing  his  dying  comrades  to  Christ  the 
crucified !  The  third,  William  E.  Lynch,  was  a  stu- 
dent, who  while  yet  a  lad  put  into  action  the  same 
divine  lesson,  and  to  save  a  fellow-student  plunged 
dauntless  into  the  icy  river  and  died,  while  yet  a 
boy,  a  hero's  death.  All  three  speak  to  us  this 
evening  with  sublime  eloquence  the  heroic  story  of 
the  Old  South ! 

Here  within  these  sacred  walls,  where  the  fore- 
most soldier,  the  knightliest  gentleman,  the  jioblest 
man  of  his  race,  taught  his  sublime  lesson,  and  his 
pupils  learned  to  put  it  into  such  divine  prac- 
tice, the  heart  cannot  but  feel  thatv  the  true  story 
of  their  life  must  be  told,  the  song  must  ,be  sung, 
through  the  ages. 

Not  far  off  repose  the  ashes  of  another  great 
soldier,  Stonewall  Jackson,  the  representative  of 
the  element  that  settled  this  valley,  as  Lee  was 
representative  of  that  which  settled  the  tide-water. 
He  flashed  across  the  sky,  a  sudden  meteor,  and 
expired  with  a  fame  for  brilliancy  second  only  to 
Napoleon. 

Near  by  him,  and  side  by  side  with  his  own 
only  son,  Stonewall  Jackson's  aide-de-camp,  Colonel 


54  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

Alexander  S.  Pendleton,  slain  in  battle  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three,  lies  one  to  whom  I  owe  a  personal 
debt  which  I  desire  to  acknowledge  publicly  to- 
night :  General  William  Nelson  Pendleton,  a  soldier 
who  doffed  the  cassock  for  the  uniform,  and  who 
lived  a  warrior-priest,  leading  his  men  in  peace  as 
he  had  done  in  war,  and  like  his  old  commander, 
the  highest  type  of  the  Christian  soldier. 

Standing  here  beside  the  sacred  ashes  of  the 
noblest  exponent  of  that  civilization,  which  I  have 
attempted  to  outline,  delivering  my  message  from 
this  University,  his  grandest  monument,  I  hail  the 
future  historian  of  the  Old  South. 


AUTHORSHIP   IN   THE   SOUTH 
BEFORE  THE   WAR 


AUTHORSHIP    IN   THE   SOUTH 
BEFORE  THE  WAR 

DISCUSSION  of  Southern  literature  during  the 
period  which  preceded  the  late  war  naturally  re- 
solves itself  into  a  consideration  of  the  causes 
which  retarded  its  growth,  since  the  absence  of  a 
literature  at  the  South  during  a  period  so  prolific 
in  intellectual  energy  of  a  different  kind,  is  one  of 
the  notable  conditions  of  a  civilization  which  was 
as  remarkable  in  many  respects  as  any  that  has 
existed  in  modern  times. 

The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  set  forth  the  prob- 
able causes  which  conduced  to  this  absence  of  litera- 
ture, to  place  the  responsibility  where  it  properly 
belongs,  and  at  the  same  time  to  direct  attention  to 
those  courageous  spirits  who,  imbued  with  love  of 
Literature  for  herself  alone,  against  the  inexorable 
destiny  of  the  time,  unrecognized  and  uneiicouraged, 
aspired  and  struggled  to  give  the  South  a  literature 
of  her  own. 

The  limitations  of  this  paper,  which  it  is  pro- 
posed to  devote  to  the  development  of  work  of  a 
purely  literary  character,  preclude  the  possibility  of 

57 


58  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

embracing  in  it  any  discussion  or  even  mention  of 
professional  and  economical  works,  which  constitute 
so  large  a  proportion  of  the  writings  of  the  South,  — 
such,  for  example,  as  the  writings  of  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Madison,  John  Taylor,  Calhoun,  Benton, 
Rives,  Legare,  Scott,  and  others ;  the  legal  works  of 
the  Tuckers,  Lomax,  Holcomb,  Davis,  Robinson, 
Benjamin,  Minor,  Daniel,  and  others ;  the  scientific 
works  of  Audubon,  Wilson,  the  Le  Contes,  Courte- 
nay,  Talcott,  and  others ;  the  works  of  the  great 
Maury;  the  historical  works  of  writers  in  nearly 
every  Southern  State;  the  philosophical  works  of 
the  Alexanders,  Bledsoe,  Breckiuridge,  Thornwell, 
and  many  others.  Owing  to  the  environment, 
much  the  larger  portion  of  the  writing  done  by  the 
South  was  philosophical  or  polemical,  only  a  small 
portion  being  purely  literary. 

It  has  been  generally  charged,  and  almost  univer- 
sally believed,  that  the  want  of  a  literature  at  the 
South  was  the  result  of  intellectual  poverty.  The 
charge,  however,  is  without  foundation,  as  will  be 
apparent  to  any  fair-minded  student  who  considers 
the  position  held  by  the  South  not  only  during  the 
period  of  the  formation  of  the  government,  but  also 
throughout  the  long  struggle  between  the  South 
and  the  North  over  the  momentous  questions 
generated  by  the  institution  of  slavery.  In  the 
former  crisis  the  South  asserted  herself  with  a 
power  and  wisdom  unsurpassed  in  the  history  of 
intellectual  resource ;  throughout  the  latter  period 


AUTHORSHIP  BEFORE  THE  WAR  59 

she  maintained  the  contest  with  consummate  ability 
and  with  transcendent  vigor  of  intellect. 

The  causes  of  the  absence  of  a  Southern  literature 
are  to  be  looked  for  elsewhere  than  in  intellectual 
indigence.  The  intellectual  conditions  were  such 
as  might  well  have  created  a  noble  literature,  but 
the  physical  conditions  were  adverse  to  its  produc- 
tion and  were  too  potent  to  be  overcome. 

The  principal  causes  were  the  following :  — 

1.  The  people  of  the  South  were  an  agricultural 
people,  widely  diffused,  and  lacking  the  stimulus 
of  immediate  mental  contact. 

2.  The  absence  of  cities,  which  in  the  history  of 
literary  life  have  proved  literary  foci  essential  for 
its  production,  and  the  want  of  publishing-houses 
at  the  South. 

3.  The  exactions  of  the  institution  of  slavery, 
and  the  absorption  of  the  intellectual  forces  of  the 
people  of  the  South  in  the  solution  of   the  vital 
problems  it  engendered. 

4.  The  general  ambition  of  the  Southern  people 
for  political  distinction,  and  the  application  of  their 
literary  powers  to  polemical  controversy. 

5.  The  absence  of  a  reading  public  at  the  South 
for  American  authors,  due  in  part  to  the  conserva- 
tism of  the  Southern  people. 

Instead  of  being  settled  in  towns  and  communi- 
ties, as  was  the  case  at  the  North,  the  bent  of  the 
people  from  the  first  was  to  hold  land  in  severalty 
in  large  bodies,  and  to  continue  the  manorial  sys- 


60  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

tern  after  the  custom  of  their  fathers  and  their 
kinsmen  in  the  old  country,  with  whom  they  even 
after  the  Revolution  still  kept  up  a  sort  of  tradi- 
tional association.  The  possession  of  slaves,  often 
in  large  numbers,  and  the  imperative  responsibilities 
of  their  regulation  and  no  less  of  their  protection 
which  such  possession  entailed,  fostered  this  inher- 
ent tendency  and  eventually  made  the  Southern 
people1  agricultural  to  the  almost  total  exclusion 
of  manufactures. 

No  merely  agricultural  people  has  ever  produced 
a  literature.  It  would  appear  that  for  the  produc- 
tion of  literature  some  centre  is  requisite,  where 
men  with  literary  instincts  may  commingle,  and 
where  their  thought  may  be  focussed. 

The  life  of  the  South  was  in  the  fields,  and  its 
population  was  so  diffused  that  there  was  always 
lacking  the  mental  stimulus  necessary  to  the  pro- 
duction of  a  literature.  There  were  few  towns, 

1  It  is  well  to  remember  that  this  term  "  the  Southern  people," 
although  ex  vi  termini  general  in  its  meaning,  is  applicable  in 
this  paper  and  in  all  discussion  of  this  subject  only  to  the  laud- 
owning  or  better  class  of  whites,  as  contra-distinguished  not 
only  from  the  negroes,  but  also  from  the  lower  class  of  whites, 
who  neither  possessed  the  advantages  nor  incurred  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  upper  class. 

This  distinction  is  ordinarily  overlooked  in  the  discussion  of 
this  matter.  The  importance  of  the  limitation  will  be  apparent- 
however,  when  it  is  considered  that  by  the  census  of  1850  (which 
is  assumed  as  a  fair  standard  because  then  the  growth  of  litera- 
ture at  the  North  was  about  at  its  zenith)  the  entire  slave-hold- 
ing and  slave-hiring  population  of  the  South  was  only  347,525. 

This  embraces  all  white  artisans  and  working  people,  whether 


AUTHORSHIP    BEFORE   THE   WAR  Cl 

and  yet  fewer  cities.  But  these  few  —  Baltimore, 
New  Orleans,  Charleston,  Richmond,  and  Louisville 
—  all  attested  the  truth  of  this  observation.  From 
them  radiated  the  occasional  beams  of  light  which 
illumined  the  general  darkness  of  the  period,  and 
there  from  time  to  time  appeared  the  infallible 
signs  of  literary  germination,  in  the  form  of  maga- 
zines, which,  struggling  against  adverse  influences, 
unhappily  perished  in  the  process  of  birth  or  faded 
untimely  in  early  youth.  For  example,  Niles's  Reg- 
ister, which  was  the  first  magazine  of  any  perma- 
nence, was  published  in  Baltimore  from  1811  to 
1849.  The  Pinkney  s, — Edward  Coate,  William,  and 
Ninian,  —  John  P.  Kennedy,  Francis  Scott  Key,  and 
others  received  its  vivifying  influence.  Elliot's 
and  Legare's  Southern  Review  was  conducted  in 
Charleston  from  1828  to  1832,  and  was  followed  in 
1835  by  The  Southern  Literary  Journal,  which  ex- 
isted only  two  years,  and  in  its  turn  after  an  inter- 
val was  succeeded  in  1842  by  The  Southern  Quar- 

in  the  towns  or  in  the  rural  districts,  who  hired  one  negro 
servant. 

This  was  the  population  of  the  South  from  which  alone  could 
spring  a  literature.  Nothing  was  to  be  expected  from  the  lower 
class  of  poor  whites,  and  of  course  nothing  from  the  negroes,  for 
they  had  no  advantages  of  education,  a  large  percentage  of  the 
former,  and  nearly  all  of  the  latter,  being  unable  to  read  and 
write. 

This  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  lower  classes  was  a  neces- 
sary concomitant  of  slavery,  for  which  institution,  notwith- 
standing the  long-established  popular  belief  of  the  outside  world, 
the  South  was  not  responsible. 


62  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

terly  Review,  which  expired  in  1856.  Besides  which, 
there  was  Simms's  Southern  and  Western  Magazine 
and  Review.  After  these  the  earnest  Hayne  estab- 
lished Russell's  Magazine.  These  literary  ventures, 
with  a  dozen  or  so  of  less  note,  such  as  The  South- 
ern Literary  Gazette,  The  Cosmopolitan,  The  Mag- 
nolia, etc.,  contributed  to  the  evolution  and  develop- 
ment of  William  Gilmore  Simms,  Hugh  S.  Legare, 
Paul  H.  Hayne,  the  Timrods,  Porcher,  De  Bow,  and 
others,  and  became  the  organs  of  their  thought. 
They  created  a  literary  atmosphere  of  a  higher 
quality  than  existed  generally,  and  supported  the 
claim  of  Charleston  to  be  the  chief  literary  focus 
of  the  South.  De  Bow's  Review,  though  scarcely 
to  be  classed  as  a  mere  literary  exponent,  yet  with 
other  transitory  periodicals  subserved  the  literary 
spirit  of  New  Orleans  from  1846  to  the  outbreak  of 
the  war. 

The  nascent  literary  feeling  of  the  West  found 
expression  for  a  brief  period  in  the  Western  Review 
in  Lexington,  Kentucky,  but  was  not  strong  enough 
to  maintain  it  above  a  year.  But  George  D.  Pren- 
tice opened  the  Courier  Journal  to  literary  aspira- 
tion, and  made  Louisville  the  literary  centre  of 
that  section.  The  genius  of  Prentice  himself  found 
an  outlet  in  his  columns,  and  the  instinct  of  many 
others,  such  as  O'Hara,  the  poetess  Amelia  B. 
Welby,  Mrs.  Betts,  Mrs.  Warfield,  and  Mrs.  Jeffrey, 
was  inspired  by  Prentice's  sympathy  and  fostered 
by  his  encouragement. 


AUTHORSHIP   BEFORE   THE   WAR  63 

In  Richmond,  Virginia,  appeared  perhaps  the 
most  noted  literary  magazine  Avhich  the  South 
produced,  —  The  Southern  Literary  Messenger.  It 
was  undertaken  as  a  mere  business  venture  in  1835, 
and  through  the  inspiring  genius  of  Poe,  who  began 
immediately  to  write  for  it  and  shortly  became  its 
editor,  it  promised  for  a  time  to  bring  a  literature 
into  being.  Although  it  was  supported  by  the  best 
literary  writers  not  only  of  Virginia  but  of  the 
South  and  survived  until  1864,  like  its  fellows  it 
contended  against  forces  too  potent  to  be  success- 
fully resisted,  and  never  attained  a  very  high  mark 
of  literary  merit.  However,  it  had  much  to  do 
with  sustaining  the  unstable  Poe,  and  with  devel- 
oping nearly  all  of  those  writers  of  the  South 
whose  names  have  survived. 

The  editors  of  these  periodicals  appear  to  have 
possessed  a  sufficiently  correct  appreciation  of  what 
was  requisite,  and  to  have  striven  bravely  enough 
to  attain  it ;  but  failure  was  their  invariable  lot. 
They  besought  their  contributors  to  abandon  the 
servile  copying  of  English  models  and  address 
themselves  to  the  portrayal  of  the  life  around 
them  with  which  they  were  familiar ;  they  enlisted 
whatever  literary  ability  there  was  to  be  secured ; 
but  they  received  no  encouragement  and  met  with 
no  success. 

The  habits  of  life  and  the  exigencies  of  life  at 
the  South  were  against  them. 

The  constituency  which  should   have  sustained 


64  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

them  was  not  only  too  widely  diffused,  but  was  too 
intent  on  the  solution  of  the  vital  problems  which 
faced  it  at  its  own  doors,  to  give  that  fostering 
encouragement  which  literary  aspiration  in  its  first 
beginning  absolutely  demands.  The  South  was  so 
unremittingly  exercised  in  considering  and  solving 
the  questions  which  slavery  was  ever  raising  that 
it  had  neither  time  nor  opportunity,  if  it  had  the 
inclination,  to  apply  itself  to  other  matters.  The 
intellectual  powers  of  the  South  were  absorbingly 
devoted  to  this  subject,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
exigencies  of  life  at  the  South  generally  took  the 
direction  of  spoken  and  not  of  written  speech. 
Where  writing  was  indulged  in,  it  was  almost  inva- 
riably of  the  philosophical,  polemical  character. 

"Literature,"  says  Carlyle,  "is  the  thought  of 
thinking  souls."  Accepting  this  definition,  the 
South  was  rich  in  literature.  There  was  sufficient 
poetry  and  wisdom  delivered  on  the  porticos  and  in 
the  halls  of  the  Southern  people  to  have  enriched 
the  age,  had  it  but  been  transmitted  in  permanent 
form ;  but  wanting  both  the  means  and  the  inclina- 
tion to  put  it  in  an  abiding  form,  they  were  wasted 
in  discourse  or  were  spent  in  mere  debate. 

Owing  to  the  position  which  the  South  occupied 
because  of  the  institution  of  slavery  and  the  diffi- 
culties engendered  by  that  institution,  the  whole 
fabric  of  life  at  the  South  was  infused  with  poli- 
tics, and  oratory  was  universally  cultivated.  Thus 
the  profession  of  the  law,  which  afforded  the  oppor- 


AUTHORSHIP   BEFORE   THE    WAR  65 

tunity  at  once  for  the  practice  and  for  the  application 
of  oratory,  and  which  was  the  chief  highway  to 
political  preferment,  became  the  general  avenue  by 
which  all  aspiring  genius  sought  to  achieve  power 
and  fame,  and  writing  was  in  consequence  neglected, 
as  too  indirect  a  mode  to  accomplish  the  desired 
end. 

There  was  much  writing  done,  but  it  was  of  the 
kind  which  is  not  deemed  incompatible  with  proper 
loyalty  to  the  law,  taking  the  invariable  form  of 
political  disquisition  or  of  polemical  discussion. 
In  these,  indeed,  the  Southerner  indefatigably  in- 
dulged, and  attained  a  rare  degree  of  perfection. 
Thus,  the  philosophical  works  of  such  men  as 
Madison,  John  Taylor  of  Caroline,  Calhoun,  etc., 
and  the  public  prints  of  the  day  generally,  ex- 
hibit powers  which  abundantly  refute  the  charge 
that  the  absence  of  a  literature  was  due  to  mental 
poverty.  In  the  city  of  Richmond  alone  were 
four  writers  for  the  daily  press  whose  brilliant 
work  is  a  guarantee  of  the  success  they  would 
have  achieved  in  any  department  of  literature  they 
might  have  chosen.  These  were  Thomas  Ritchie, 
John  Hampden  Pleasant s,  Edward  T.  Johnston,  and 
John  M.  Daniel.  In  their  time  the  editorial  columns 
of  the  Enquirer,  Whig,  and  Examiner  possessed  a 
potency  which  is  at  this  time  well-nigh  inconceiva- 
ble. They  may  be  said  to  have  almost  controlled  the 
destinies  of  the  great  political  parties  of  the  coun- 
try. The  Whig  and  the  Enquirer  were  the  bitter- 


66  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

est  antagonists,  their  hostility  resulting  finally  in  a 
fatal  duel  between  Pleasants,  the  editor  of  the 
WJiig,  and  a  son  of  his  rival,  "  Mr.  Ritchie,"  of  the 
Enquirer.  But  this  antagonism  may  be  as  well 
shown  by  a  less  tragic  illustration :  the  Enquirer  was 
accustomed  to  publish  original  poetry  in  a  column 
at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  legend,  "  Much  yet 
remains  unsung"  ;  the  Whig  kept  standing  a  notice 
that  "poetry"  would  be  published  at  a  dollar  a  line. 

It  would  indeed  appear  that,  with  the  potency 
of  intellectual  demonstration  so  constantly  and  so 
forcibly  illustrated  throughout  the  land,  the  South- 
erner would  have  been  irresistibly  impelled  to  seek 
a  wider  field,  a  more  extensive  audience,  and  would 
inevitably  have  sought  to  put  into  permanent  form 
the  product  of  his  mind. 

What  might  not  the  eloquence  and  genius  of 
Clay  have  effected  had  they  been  turned  in  the 
direction  of  literature,  or  what  the  mental  acumen, 
the  philosophic  force,  the  learning,  of  Calhoun,  of 
whom  Dr.  Dwight  said  when  he  left  college  that 
the  young  man  knew  enough  to  be  President  of  the 
United  States  !  How  much  did  literature  lose  when 
Marshall,  Wirt,  the  Lees,  Martin,  Pinkney,  Berrien, 
Hayne,  Preston,  Cobb,  Clingman,  Ruffin,  Legare, 
Soule,  Davis,  Roane,  Johnston,  Crittenden,  devoted 
all  their  brilliant  powers  to  politics  and  the  law ! 
John  Randolph  boasted  that  he  should  "  go  down 
to  the  grave  guiltless  of  rhyme,"  yet  his  letters 
contain  the  concentrated  essence  of  intellectual 


AUTHOKSHIP  BEFOKE  THE  WAR      67 

energy;  his  epigrams  stung  like  a  branding-iron, 
and  are  the  current  coin  of  tradition  throughout  his 
native  State  two  generations  after  his  death. 

Literature  stood  no  chance  because  the  ambition 
of  young  men  of  the  South  was  universally  turned 
in  the  direction  of  political  distinction,  and  because 
the  monopoly  of  advancement  held  by  the  profession 
of  the  law  was  too  well  established  and  too  clearly 
recognized  to  admit  of  its  claim  being  contested; 
and  once  in  the  service  of  the  law  there  be  few 
with  either  the  inclination  or  the  courage  to  assert 
any  independence.  Even  now  the  Southerner  will 
not  believe  that  a  man  can  be  a  lawyer  and  an 
author.  Yet  it  was  not  unnatural  that  the  major 
portion  of  such  literary  work  as  was  done  at  the 
South  was  done  by  lawyers. 

Their  profession  called  forth  the  exercise  of  the 
highest  intellectual  powers,  and  necessarily  they 
occasionally  strayed  into  the  adjoining  domain  of 
letters.  The  pity  of  it  is  that  their  literary  work 
was  in  the  main  but  the  desultory  "jottings  down" 
in  their  hours  of  recreation  of  fragmentary  sketches, 
which  were  usually  based  on  the  humorous  phases 
of  life  with  which  their  profession  made  them  fa- 
miliar, and  almost  the  best  is  stamped  with  the 
mark  of  an  apparent  dilettanteism. 

Chief  Justice  Marshall  took  time  to  write  a  life 
of  Washington,  but  there  was  little  biography 
attempted.  William  Wirt  early  in  the  century 
entertained  himself  amid  the  exactions  of  practice 


68  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

by  contributing  to  the  Richmond  Argus  "  The  Let- 
ters of  a  British  Spy,"  and  subsequently  wrote  his 
"  Old  Bachelor  "  and  his  "  Life  of  Patrick  Henry," 
on  the  last  of  which  his  present  fame  rests  more 
than  on  his  reputation  as  a  great  lawyer,  even 
though  he  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  advo- 
cates the  nation  has  produced,  was  counsel  in  the 
most  celebrated  case  which  the  legal  annals  of  the 
country  contain,  and  was  among  the  ablest  Attorney- 
Generals  of  the  United  States.  Indeed,  almost  the 
only  recollection  of  the  great  Burr  trial  which  sur- 
vives to  the  general  public  is  the  extract  from 
Wirt's  speech,  preserved  as  a  literary  fragment, 
describing  the  Isle  of  Blennerhassett.  Happily  for 
his  fame,  Wirt  held  that,  though  a  lawyer  should 
strive  to  be  a  great  lawyer,  yet  he  should  not  be  "  a 
mere  lawyer." 

Among  other  writers  of  the  South  who  were 
lawyers  were  the  Tuckers  of  Virginia,  —  St.  George 
(Sr.),  who  was  a  poet  and  an  essayist  as  well  as 
a  jurist,  George,  the  essayist,  Henry  St.  George, 
Nathaniel  Beverley,  author  of  "The  Partisan 
Leader,"  and  St.  George  (Jr.),  author  of  "Hans- 
ford,  a  Tale  of  Bacon's  Rebellion."  There  was  also 
John  Pendleton  Kennedy,  of  Maryland.  These 
might  have  retrieved  the  reputation  of  the  South 
in  respect  to  literature  if  the  Tuckers  had  not  de- 
voted all  their  best  energies  to  the  law,  and  if  Ken- 
nedy had  not  been,  as  Poe  said  of  him,  "  over  head 
and  ears  in  business  "  relating  to  the  bar,  his  seat 
in  Congress,  and  his  seat  in  the  Cabinet. 


AUTHORSHIP  BEFORE  THE  WAR     69 

William  Gilmore  Simms  began  life  as  a  lawyer, 
but  his  love  for  literature  proved  irrepressible,  and 
in  an  evil  hour  for  his  material  welfare  he  aban- 
doned the  profession  and  devoted  himself  to  liter- 
ature. 

Others  who  were  lawyers  were  Kichard  Henry 
Wilde,  the  poet,  Joseph  G.  Baldwin,  author  of 
"  Flush  Times  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi,"  Augus- 
tus B.  Longstreet,  author  of  "Georgia  Scenes," 
Philip  Pendleton  Cooke,  the  poet,  John  Esten 
Cooke,  the  novelist,  the  Pinkneys,  Edward  Coate 
and  Frederick,  Francis  Scott  Key,  Thomas  Hart 
Benton,  Hugh  Swinton  Legare,  Alexander  B.  Meek, 
Francis  Gilmer,  the  essayist,  Charles  FJienne  Ar- 
thur Gayarre,  the  historian,  dramatist,  and  novelist, 
Henry  Timrod,  Paul  H.  Hayne,  John  R.  Thompson, 
James  Barron  Hope,  and  many  others. 

It  is  a  full  list,  nearly  complete,  and  comprises 
poets,  novelists,  essayists,  and  historians.  Poe  and 
Lanier  were  almost  the  only  notable  exceptions. 
With  Poe,  as  he  declared,  poetry  was  "  not  a  purpose, 
but  a  passion  " ;  and  in  whatever  else  his  besetting 
weakness  made  him  fickle,  he  at  least  never  wa- 
vered in  his  loyalty  to  his  first  and  best  love. 

It  was  not  remarkable  that  the  law  was  preferred 
to  literature,  for  in  sober  truth  it  required  sterner 
stuff  than  most  men  were  compounded  of,  and  a 
more  absorbing  passion  than  most  men  were  ani- 
mated by,  to  follow  literature  as  a  pursuit.  To  do 
so  was  to  take  the  vow  of  poverty.  When  Poe, 


70  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

even  after  having  made  a  name,  was  receiving 
only  four  dollars  and  a  half  per  printed  magazine 
page  for  his  marvellous  work;  when  as  editor  of 
the  magazine  he  thought  himself  generously  re- 
warded by  a  salary  of  $520  per  annum ;  when 
"The  Gold-Bug,"  written  at  almost  the  height  of 
his  fame,  brought  only  $52  and  "  The  Eaven  "  only 
$10,  it  must  have  been  apparent  to  every  sensible 
man  that,  whatever  the  rewards  of  literature  might 
be,  a  reasonable  support  was  not  among  them.  Re- 
ducing the  question  to  the  unromantic  level  of  fair 
compensation,  there  were  few  who  were  willing  to 
give  for  a  contingent  interest  in  a  niche  of  Fame's 
temple,  which,  in  the  language  of  the  law,  was,  at 
best,  potentia  remotissima,  the  bread  and  butter  and 
bonnets  and  equipages  which  were  assured  at  the 
bar. 

William  Gilmore  Simms,  who  was  one  of  the 
very  first  who  had  the  temerity  to  brave  the  hard- 
ships of  a  literary  life,  complained  that  he  had  never 
held  the  position  which  rightfully  belonged  to  him, 
because  he  made  his  living  as  a  writer. 

The  responsibility  for  the  want  of  a  literature 
was  not  with  the  writers,  but  with  the  environ- 
ment. There  was  lacking  not  only  the  mental 
stimulus  of  contact  between  mind  and  mind,  but 
also  that  yet  more  essential  inspiration,  sympathy 
with  literary  effort,  which  is  as  necessary  to  liter- 
ary vitality  as  the  atmosphere  is  to  physical  exist- 
ence. One  of  Philip  Pendleton  Cooke's  neighbors 


AUTHOBSHIP  BEFORE  THE   WAR  71 

said  to  him  after  he  became  known  as  the  author 
of  "  Florence  Vane,"  "  I  wouldn't  waste  time  on  a 
damned  thing  like  poetry :  you  might  make  your- 
self, with  all  your  sense  and  judgment,  a  useful 
man  in  settling  neighborhood  disputes  and  diffi- 
culties." 

It  is  matter  for  little  wonder  that  the  poet 
declared  that  one  had  as  much  chance  with  such 
people  as  a  dolphin  would  have  if  in  one  of  his 
darts  he  pitched  in  among  the  machinery  of  a  mill. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  South's  position  during 
this  period,  there  was  another  barrier  to  literature. 
The  standard  of  literary  work  was  not  a  purely 
literary  standard,  but  one  based  on  public  opin- 
ion, which  in  its  turn  was  founded  on  the  general 
consensus  that  the  existing  institution  was  not 
to  be  impugned,  directly  or  indirectly,  on  any 
ground  or  by  any  means  whatsoever. 

This  was  an  atmosphere  in  which  literature  could 
not  flourish.  In  consequence,  where  literature  was 
indulged  in  it  was  in  a  half-apologetic  way,  as  if  it 
were  not  altogether  compatible  with  the  social  dig- 
nity of  the  author.  Thought  which  in  its  expres- 
sion has  any  other  standard  than  fidelity  to  truth, 
whatever  secondary  value  it  may  have,  cannot 
possess  much  value  as  literature.  "The  Partisan 
Leader  "  was  secretly  printed  in  1836,  and  was  after- 
wards suppressed.  It  was  again  republished  just 
before  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  was  a  second 
time  suppressed  or  withdrawn.  Augustus  B.  Long- 


72  THE  OLD   SOUTH       . 

street,  although  he  subsequently  became  a  preacher, 
was  at  the  bar  when  he  wrote  "  Georgia  Scenes." 
He  was  so  ashamed  of  having  been  beguiled  into 
writing  what  is  one  of  the  raciest  books  of  sketches 
yet  produced,  a  book  by  which  alone  his  name  is 
now  preserved,  that  he  made  a  strenuous  effort  to 
secure  and  suppress  the  work  after  its  publication. 
Even  Richard  Henry  Wilde,  who  was  a  poet,  and 
who  should  have  possessed  a  poet's  love  for  his  art, 
did  not  conceive  his  best  poem,  "  My  Life  is  like 
the  Summer  Rose,"  worthy  of  acknowledgment.  It 
was  "The  Lament  of  the  Captive"  in  an  epic  poem 
which  was  never  finished,  and  was  published  with- 
out his  authority,  and  he  was  hardly  persuaded  to 
assert  his  claim  to  its  authorship  when,  after  it 
had  been  for  a  score  of  years  merely  "  attributed  " 
to  him  in  this  country,  and  in  Great  Britain  had 
been  known  and  admired  as  "  a  poem  by  an  Ameri- 
can lawyer,"  it  was  unblushingly  claimed  and  stolen 
by  several  more  ambitious  versifiers,  who,  if  they 
failed  to  recognize  the  obligation  of  the  eighth  com- 
mandment, at  least  appreciated  the  value  of  liter- 
ary talent  higher  than  the  real  poet.  The  poem 
was  as  a  hoax  translated  into  Greek  by  Barclay,  of 
Savannah,  and  was  attributed  to  a  poet  called  Al- 
cseus,  and  a  controversy  having  arisen  as  to  whether 
it  was  really  written  by  an  Irishman  named  O'Kelly, 
who  had  published  it  in  a  volume  of  his  poems  as 
his,  or  whether  he  had  stolen  it  from  the  old  Greek, 
Mr.  Wilde,  who  was  then  a  member  of  Congress  from 


AUTHORSHIP  BEFOKE  THE  WAR  73 

Georgia,  was  finally  induced  to  admit  that  he  had 
written  the  poem  twenty  years  before.  This  he  did 
in  a  letter  characteristic  of  the  time,  declaring  that 
he  valued  "  these  rhymes  "  very  differently  from 
others,  and  avowed  their  authorship  only  in  compli- 
ance with  the  wishes  of  those  he  esteemed. 

This  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  South,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  diffusion  of  its  population,  fur- 
nishes the  only  reasonable  solution  of  the  singular 
fact  that  the  South  produced  so  little  literature  not- 
withstanding its  culture ;  for  culture  it  possessed,  and 
of  the  best  kind,  —  the  culture  of  the  classics,  the 
most  fertilizing  of  all  intellectual  forces.  If  the 
lower  classes  were  ignorant,  the  upper  class  univer- 
sally emphasized  the  distinction  between  them  by 
giving  their  children  the  best  education  that  could  be 
obtained.  Jefferson  deplored  the  fact  that  over  one- 
half  of  the  students  at  Princeton  were  Virginians, 
and  he  founded  the  University  of  Virginia  that 
Southerners  might  be  able  to  secure  the  best  edu- 
cation at  home.  Upon  this  sure  foundation  of  a 
university  training  was  laid  the  superstructure  of 
constant  association  with  the  best  classical  authors. 

These  established  the  standard,  and  the  South- 
erner held  in  contempt  any  writer  who  did  not  at 
once  conform  to  their  style  and  equal  their  merit. 

Poe  in  his  early  manhood  bitterly  declared  that 
"  one  might  suppose  that  books,  like  their  authors, 
improve  by  travel,  their  having  crossed  the  sea  is 
with  us  so  great  a  distinction." 


74  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

To  any  good  in  what  was  penned  and  published 
on  this  side  the  Atlantic  the  Southerner  was,  as  a 
general  thing,  absolutely  and  incurably  blind.  If 
the  work  was  written  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  it  was  incontinently  contemned  as  "  trashy  "  ;  if 
it  emanated  from  the  North,  it  was  vehemently  de- 
nounced as  "  Yankee."  In  either  case  it  was  con- 
demned. 

With  this  in  mind,  it  is  not  surprising  that,  with 
all  the  intellectual  resources  of  the  South,  so  few 
writers  should  have  been  found  with  the  inclination 
or  the  temerity  to  attempt  a  work  thus  sure  to  ter- 
minate in  failure,  if  not  to  incur  contempt.  If  one 
should  attempt  it,  where  could  he  secure  a  pub- 
lisher ?  There  were  few  at  the  South,  and  to  seek  a 
publisher  at  the  North  was  to  hazard  repulse  there 
and  insure  criticism  at  home. 

Thus,  the  true  explanation  of  the  absence  of  a 
Southern  literature  of  a  high  order  during  this 
epoch  was  not  the  want  of  literary  ability.  There 
was. genius  enough  to  have  founded  a  literature,  but 
there  were  no  publishers  generally,  and  there  was 
never  any  public. 

Yet  from  the  untoward  conditions  delineated 
issued  a  literary  genius  of  the  first  rank. 

Notwithstanding  the  coldness  and  indifference 
which  he  encountered  in  this  State,  Poe  ever  de- 
clared himself  a  Virginian ;  and,  with  all  due 
respect  to  certain  latter-day  critics,  who  assert  the 
contrary,  it  must  be  said  that  to  those  familiar 


AUTHORSHIP  BEFORE  THE  WAR     75 

with  the  qualities  and  with  the  points  of  difference 
between  the  Northern  and  Southern  civilizations, 
Poe's  poems  are  as  distinctly  Southern  in  their 
coloring,  tone,  and  temper  as  Wordsworth's  are 
English.  The  wild  landscape,  the  flower-laden 
atmosphere,  the  delirious  richness,  are  their  setting, 
and  a  more  than  tropical  passion  interfuses  them 
as  unmistakably  as  the  air  of  English  lawns  and 
meadows  breathes  through  Tennyson's  master- 
pieces. We  find  in  them  everywhere 

Dim  vales  and  shadowy  floods, 
And  cloudy-looking  woods, 
Whose  forms  we  can't  discover 
For  the  trees  that  drip  all  over. 

Poe,  however,  was  limited  by  no  boundary,  geo- 
graphical or  other.  The  spirit-peopled  air,  the 
infernal  chambers  of  fancied  inquisitions,  the  re- 
gions of  the  moon,  the  imagined  horrors  of  post- 
mortem sentience,  were  equally  his  realm.  In  all 
his  vast  and  weird  and  wonderful  genius  roamed 
unconfined  and  equally  at  home.  In  all  he  created 
his  own  atmosphere,  and  projected  his  marvellous 
fancies  with  an  originality  and  a  power  whose 
universal  application  is  the  undeniable  and  perfect 
proof  of  his  supreme  genius. 

That  he  failed  of  his  immediate  audience  was 
due,  in  part,  to  his  own  unfortunate  disposition, 
but  yet  more  to  the  time  and  to  the  blindness 
which  visited  upon  works  of  incomparable  literary 


76  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

merit  the  sins  of  physical  frailty:  the  creations 
of  his  genius,  by  reason  of  their  very  originality, 
were  contemned  as  the  ravings  of  a  disordered  and 
unbalanced  mind,  and,  unrecognized  at  home,  Poe 
was  forced  to  wander  to  an  alien  clime  in  search  of 
bread. 

With  his  personal  habits  this  paper  is  not  con- 
cerned. His  life  has  been  for  more  than  a  genera- 
tion the  object  of  attack  and  vituperation  which 
have  raged  with  inconceivable  violence.  From  the 
time  that  Griswold  perpetrated  his  "immortal  in- 
famy," viudictiveness  has  found  in  Poe's  career  its 
most  convenient  target.  Yet  the  works  of  this 
unfortunate  have  caught  the  human  heart,  and  are 
to-day  the  common  property  of  the  English-speak- 
ing races,  whether  dwelling  in  Virginia  or  Massa- 
chusetts, Great  Britain  or  Australia,  and  have  been 
translated  into  the  language  of  every  civilized 
nation  of  Europe.  A  recent  interview  with  the 
English  publishers,  the  Routledges,  showed  that 
twenty-nine  thousand  copies  of  Poe's  Tales  had 
been  sold  by  them  in  the  year  1887,  as  against  less 
than  one-third  of  that  number  of  many  of  the  most 
popular  and  famous  of  our  other  American  writers. 

The  obligation  to  Poe  has  never  been  duly  recog- 
nized. It  is  said  that  the  Latin  poems  of  Milton 
first  opened  the  eyes  of  the  Italians  to  the  fact  that 
the  island  which  Caesar  had  conquered  had  become 
civilized.  The  first  evidence  of  culture  which  was 
accepted  abroad,  after  the  long  night  of  silence 


AUTHORSHIP  BEFORE   THE  WAR  77 

which  covered  the  South  after  the  departure  of  the 
great  fathers  of  the  Republic,  was  the  work  of 
Edgar  A.  Poe.  It  is  not  more  to  the  credit  of  the 
Xorth  than  of  the  South,  that  when  the  latter 
threw  him  off  starving,  the  former  failed  to  give 
him  more  than  a  crust. 

"  The  Raven "  created  a  sensation,  and  still 
thrills  every  poetic  mind  with  wonder  at  its  mar- 
vellous music  and  its  mysterious  power,  but,  though 
it  secured  for  its  author  fame,  it  brought  him  only 
ten  dollars'  worth  of  bread.  If  literature  has  not 
advanced  since  that  day,  at  least  the  welfare  of  lit- 
erary men  has  done  so.  The  writer  of  a  short  story 
or  paper  which  is  deemed  worthy  of  a  place  in  one 
of  the  modern  monthly  magazines  of  the  better  class, 
even  though  he  may  have  no  reputation,  receives 
at  least  ten  dollars  per  printed  page ;  whilst,  if  he 
be  at  all  well  known,  he  may  expect  double  or 
quadruple  that  sum.  Poe  received  for  some  of 
his  immortal  works  four  dollars  per  printed  page. 

Poe's  poetry  discovered  a  fresh  realm  in  the 
domain  of  fancy ;  but  his  prose  works  are,  if  pos- 
sible, even  more  remarkable.  His  critical  faculty 
installed  a  new  era  in  criticism.  Up  to  this  time 
the  literary  press,  too  imbecile  to  possess,  or  too 
feeble  to  assert  independence,  cringed  fawning  at 
the  feet  of  every  writer  whose  position  was  assured 
among  what  was  recognized  as  the  literary  set,  and 
accepted  with  laudation,  or  at  least  with  flattering 
deference,  all  publications  which  bore  the  talis- 


78  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

manic  charm  of  an  established  name.  Poe  un- 
doubtedly was  at  times  too  much  influenced  by 
personal  feeling,  but,  with  the  courage  of  one  who 
had  vowed  his  life  to  truth,  he  stripped  off  the 
mask  of  dull  respectability,  and  relentlessly  ex- 
posed sham  and  vacuity  under  whatever  name  they 
appeared. 

"If,"  as  Mr.  Lowell  said,  "he  seems  at  times  to 
mistake  his  vial  of  prussic  acid  for  his  inkstand," 
yet  he  lifted  literary  criticism  from  the  abasement 
of  snivelling  imbecility  into  which  it  had  sunk,  and 
established  it  upon  a  basis  founded  on  the  princi- 
ples of  analysis,  philosophy,  and  art. 

If  in  discussing  the  works  of  female  writers  his 
susceptible  nature  and  his  chivalrous  instinct  unduly 
inclined  him  to  bestow  praise  on  what  was  mere 
trash,  yet  no  less  an  authority  than  Mr.  Lowell 
said  of  him  that  he  was  "the  most  discriminating, 
philosophical,  and  fearless  critic  upon  imaginative 
works  who  has  ever  written  in  America." 

His  own  imaginative  works  created  a  new  school, 
and  have  never  been  equalled  in  their  peculiar 
vein,  or  surpassed  in  any  vein  whatever  in  the 
qualities  of  originality,  force,  and  art. 

Edgar  A.  Poe  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine, 
when  the  powers  and  faculties  are  just  matured. 
What  might  he  not  have  done  had  he  lived  out  the 
full  span  of  man's  allotted  life  ! 

He  was  not  prolific  either  in  prose  or  in  verse, 
his  health  or  his  habits  frequently  incapacitating 


AUTHORSHIP  BEFORE  THE  WAR     79 

him  from  work ;  but  both  his  poems  and  his  tales 
not  only  evince  his  genius,  but  exhibit  the  highest 
degree  of  literary  art. 

It  has  become  the  fashion  to  decry  Poe  and  to 
disparage  his  work ;  but  the  detraction  which  has 
been  expended  upon  him  for  a  period  extending 
over  nearly  two  generations  has  only  made  his 
literary  fame  brighter.  As  Mr.  Gosse  has  aptly 
said,  he  has  been  a  veritable  piper  of  Hamelin  to 
all  American  writers  since  his  time. 

If  we  are  compelled  to  admit  that  he  is  the  one 
really  great  writer  of  purely  literary  work  that  the 
South  produced  under  its  old  conditions,  it  is  no 
reflection  on  the  South  or  its  civilization,  for  the 
North  during  the  same  period,  with  an  educated 
population  many  times  larger,  can  claim  only  three 
or  four,  whilst  England  herself,  "with  all  appli- 
ances and  means  to  boot,"  can  number  hardly  more 
than  a  score. 

There  were  other  writers  besides  Poe  who  braved 
the  chilling  indifference  of  the  time,  and  who  wrote 
and  strove,  devoting  labor  and  life  to  the  endeavor 
to  awake  the  South  to  a  realization  of  its  literary 
abilities. 

But  few  of  them  have  survived  to  more  than 
mention  in  works  of  reference,  and  the  most  that 
can  be  done  is  to  mention  those  whose  work  was 
distinctive  in  its  character  or  scope,  or  who  by  their 
diligence  and  ardor  may  be  deemed  to  have  for- 
warded the  cause  of  Southern  literature. 


80  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

Excepting  Poe,  who  stands  pre-eminent  above  all 
others,  the  three  leading  literary  men  of  the  South 
during  the  period  which  extended  down  to  the  war 
were  John  Pendleton  Kennedy,  of  Maryland,  Wil- 
liam Gilrnore  Simms,  of  South  Carolina,  and  John 
Esten  Cooke,  of  Virginia. 

There  were  others  who,  in  prose  or  in  verse,  in  a 
short  sketch  or  a  lyric,  struck  perhaps  a  higher  key 
than  these  did,  but  the  effort  was  rarely  repeated, 
and  these  were  the  leading  literary  men  of  the 
South,  not  merely  as  authors,  but  as  the  friends 
and  promoters  of  literature. 

Of  these  Kennedy  was  first  in  time,  whilst  Simms 
was  first  in  his  devotion  to  literature  and  in  the 
work  he  accomplished.  Indeed,  no  one  in  the  his- 
tory of  Southern  literature  ever  applied  himself 
more  assiduously  and  loyally  to  its  development 
than  Simms.  Both  of  these  exercised  a  wider  in- 
fluence upon  the  literary  spirit  of  the  South  than 
that  which  proceeded  immediately  from  their  works. 
Kennedy,  who  was  born  in  1795  in  Baltimore,  where 
he  lived  all  of  his  long  life,  had  not  only  made  his 
mark  as  a  lawyer  and  man  of  affairs,  but  as  the 
author  of  "  Swallow  Barn  "  had  already  acquired  a 
reputation  as  a  literary  man,  when  in  the  autumn 
of  1833  the  two  prizes  offered  by  the  proprietors  of 
the  Saturday  Visitor,  a  weekly  literary  journal 
of  Baltimore,  were  awarded,  by  the  committee  of 
which  he  was  chairman,  to  an  unknown  young  man 
named  Poe.  It  was  not  deemed  proper  to  give  so 


AUTHORSHIP  BEFORE  THE  WAR  81 

much  to  one  person,  so  he  received  only  one  prize. 
It  was  owing  to  Mr.  Kennedy's  interest  and  kind- 
ness that  the  young  author,  who  was  in  the  most 
desperate  straits,  was  secured  an  opening  in  the  col- 
umns of  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger  and  sub- 
sequently became  its  editor;  and  the  prosperous 
litterateur  was  the  friend  and  encourager  of  the 
indigent  genius  as  long  as  the  latter  lived. 

Mr.  Kennedy's  novels,  "  Swallow  Barn,"  a  story 
of  rural  life  in  Virginia ;  "  Horseshoe  Robinson,"  a 
tale  of  the  Tory  ascendency  in  South  Carolina; 
and  "  Rob  of  the  Bowl,"  a  story  of  Maryland,  gave 
him  position  among  the  leading  novelists  of  his 
day,  and  placed  him  first  among  the  Southern  liter- 
ary men  of  his  time. 

His  other  works  than  those  named  are  a  satire 
entitled  "  Annals  of  Quodlibet,"  a  memoir  of  Wil- 
liam Wirt,  in  two  volumes,  etc.  He  continued  to 
write  until  his  death,  long  after  the  war. 

William  Gilmore  Simms,  of  South  Carolina,  was 
not  only  the  most  prolific,  but,  with  the  exception 
of  Poe,  was  the  chief  distinctly  literary  man  the 
South  has  produced.  The  measure  of  his  industry 
was  immense.  His  ability  was  of  a  high  order,  and 
his  devotion  to  literature  was,  for  the  time,  extraor- 
dinary. As  poet,  novelist,  historian,  biographer, 
essayist,  he  was  not  surpassed  by  any  one  of  his 
compeers ;  and  if  his  whole  work  be  considered,  he 
was  first.  From  1827,  when  he  brought  out  in 
Charleston  his  first  venture,  a  volume  entitled 


82  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

"Lyrical  and  Other  Poems,"  to  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1870,  he  was  assiduously  and  earnestly  engaged 
in  the  attempt  to  create  a  literature  for  the  South. 
His  first  devotion  was  to  poetry,  and  he  published 
three  volumes  of  poems  before  he  was  twenty-six 
years  of  age.  Although  he  continued  to  write  poetry 
after  this,  it  is  chiefly  as  a  writer  of  fiction  that  he 
made  his  reputation  and  that  his  name  is  now  pre- 
served. Poe  declared  him  the  best  novelist  after 
Cooper  this  country  had  produced,  and,  although 
to  us  now  his  works  have  the  faults  of  that  time, 
too  great  prolixity,  too  much  description,  and  the 
constant  tendency  to  disquisition,  they  are  of  a 
much  higher  order  as  romances  than  books  of  many 
of  the  novelists  of  the  present  day  whose  works 
receive  general  praise.  His  works  comprise  a  series 
of  novels,  most  of  them  based  on  the  more  romantic 
phases  of  the  old  Southern  life,  several  volumes  of 
poems,  several  dramas,  and  several  biographies. 
"  The  Yemassee  "  is  perhaps  the  best  of  his  novels, 
but  many  of  them  had  a  considerable  vogue  in  their 
day,  and  the  renewed  demand  for  them  has  recently 
caused  a  new  edition  to  be  published. 

John  Esten  Cooke,  the  third  of  the  trio,  was  like 
the  other  two  both  a  novelist  and  a  biographer. 
He  possessed  a  fine  imagination,  and  under  more 
exacting  conditions  he  might  have  reached  a  high 
mark  and  have  made  a  permanent  name  in  our 
literature.  His  publications  before  the  war  were 
"Leather  Stocking  and  Silk"  (1854),  "The  Vir- 


AUTHORSHIP   BEFORE   THE    WAR  83 

ginia  Comedians"  (2  vols.,  1854),  "The  Youth  of 
Jefferson"  (1854),  "Ellie"  (1855),  "The  Last  of 
the  Foresters"  (1856),  and  "Bonnybel  Vane,  or 
The  History  of  Henry  St.  John,  Gentleman" 
(1859).  In  addition  to  these,  he  wrote  numerous 
sketches.  Candor  compels  the  admission  that,  al- 
though very  popular,  these  earlier  works  are  not 
of  a  very  high  order.  The  war,  however,  in  which 
the  young  novelist  served  honorably  on  the  staff  of 
General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  the  celebrated  Confederate 
cavalry  leader,  gave  him  a  new  impulse,  and  his 
later  works,  such  as  "Surry  of  Eagle's  .Nest," 
"Mohun,"  "Hilt  to  Hilt,"  "Hammer  and  Kapier," 
and  "Wearing  of  the  Gray,"  are  very  much  better 
than  the  earlier;  whilst  his  biographical  and  his- 
torical works  are  probably  best  of  all.  These,  how- 
ever, were  written  under  the  new  conditions,  and 
belong  properly  to  the  post-bellum  literature  of  the 
South.  Cooke  wrote  of  Virginia  life  as  Siinms 
wrote  of  South  Carolina  life,  with  affection,  appre- 
ciation, and  spirit,  but,  like  both  Simms  and 
Kennedy,  he  failed  to  strike  the  highest  note.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  Dr.  William  A.  Caruthers, 
also  a  Virginian,  who  had  preceded  Cooke  and 
Simms,  and  who  is  entitled  with  the  latter  and 
Mr.  Kennedy  to  the  honor  of  first  discovering  the 
romantic  material  afforded  the  novelist  in  the  pic- 
turesque life  of  their  own  section.  His  first  book, 
"  The  Cavaliers  of  Virginia,  or  the  Recluse  of 
Jamestown,  an  Historical  Romance  of  the  Old 


84  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

Dominion/'  appeared  in  1832.  It  dealt  with  the 
most  romantic  episode  in  the  history  of  the  South, 
if  not  of  the  entire  country,  —  Bacon's  Eebellion. 
This  was  followed  in  1845  by  the  novel  on  which 
his  name  now  rests,  "The  Knights  of  the  Horse- 
shoe, a  Traditionary  Tale  of  the  Cocked-Hat  Gentry 
in  the  Old  Dominion."  He  also  wrote  a  volume  of 
sketches  entitled  "  The  Kentuckian  in  New  York, 
or  the  Adventures  of  Three  Southerners,"  and 
a  "Life  of  Dr.  Caldwell."  This  same  romantic 
period  was  likewise' the  subject  of  a  novel  by  St. 
George  Tucker  (the  younger),  entitled  "Hansford, 
a  Tale  of  Bacon's  Rebellion,"  which  was  published 
in  1857  by  George  M.  West,  of  Richmond,  Virginia, 
and  which  had  much  popularity  in  its  day. 

These  books  are  so  good,  or,  more  accurately, 
they  have  in  them  so  much  that  is  good,  that  one 
cannot  but  wonder  they  are  not  better.  These 
writers  possessed  the  Southerner's  love  for  the 
South ;  they  perfectly  comprehended  the  value  of 
the  material  its  life  furnished,  and  recognized  the 
importance  of  preserving  this  life  in  literature  ; 
they  earnestly  endeavored  to  accomplish  this,  and 
yet  they  failed  to  preserve  it  in  its  reality.  It  is 
melancholy  to  contemplate,  and  it  is  difficult  to  com- 
prehend. They  wrote  with  spirit,  with  zeal,  with 
affection,  and  generally 'in  the  chastest  and  most 
beautiful  English,  but  somehow  they  just  missed 
the  highest  mark.  It  is  as  if  they  had  set  their 
song  in  the  wrong  key. 


AUTHOESHIP  BEFORE  THE  WAR      85 

The  chief  fault  of  their  books  was  a  certain  imi- 
tativeness,  and  adherence  to  old  methods.  Scott 
had  set  the  fashion,  and  it  was  so  admirable  that 
it  led  all  the  writers  to  copying  him.  G.  P.  R. 
James  gave  him  in  dilution.  Cooper  had  attained 
immense  popularity,  and  was  more  easily  followed ; 
but  to  imitate  Scott  was  a  perilous  undertaking. 
The  stripling  in  the  king's  armor  was  not  more 
encumbered. 

Yet  must  this  be  said  in  defence  of  all  these 
writers,  that  we  are  looking  at  their  work  through 
a  different  atmosphere  from  that  in  which  they 
wrote.  Fashion  in  writing,  where  it  is  not  informed 
by  genius,  passes  away,  as  in  other  things.  Only 
art  remains  ever  new,  ever  fresh,  ever  true.  Just 
as  Miss  Burney  and  Richardson  doubtless  appeared 
antiquated  to  these,  so  they  now  appear  to  us,  who 
are  accustomed  to  a  different  treatment,  stilted  and 
unreal. 

After  these  authors  came  the  sketch-writers,  who, 
if  Poe's  dictum  that  a  short  story  is  the  most  per- 
fect form  of  prose  literature  is  correct,  should  be 
placed  before  them.  The  chief  of  these,  excepting 
Poe  himself,  were  Joseph  G.  Baldwin,  Augustus  B. 
Longstreet,  William  Tappan  Thompson,  St.  Leger 
L.  Carter,  and  George  W.  Bagby. 

Joseph  G.  Baldwin  was  the  author  of  "Flush 
Times  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi,"  which  is  per- 
haps the  raciest  collection  of  sketches  yet  published 
in  America.  This  volume  within  a  year  of  its  first 


86  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

publication  in  1853  had  run  into  its  seventh  edi- 
tion. "  Ovid  Bolus,  Esq."  and  "  Simon  Suggs,  Jr., 
Esq."  became  at  once  characters  as  well  known 
throughout  the  South  as  was  Sam  Weller  or  Micky 
Free;  whilst  the  case  of  " Higginbotham  versus 
Swink,  Slander  "  became  a  cause  celebre. 

Augustus  B.  Longstreet,  of  Mississippi,  was  the 
author  of  "  Georgia  Scenes,  Characters,  Incidents, 
etc.,  in  the  First  Half-Century  of  the  Republic," 
and  other  sketches.  He  also  wrote  a  long  story 
entitled  "  Master  William  Mitten." 

William  Tappan  Thompson  was  the  author  of 
"  Major  Jones's  Courtship,"  "  Major  Jones's  Chron- 
icle of  Pineville,"  "  Major  Jones's  Sketches  of 
Travel,"  and  other  sketches. 

Yet  another  was  Dr.  George  W.  Bagby,  of  Vir- 
ginia, who  succeeded  John  R.  Thompson  as  editor 
of  The  Southern  Literary  Messenger,  and  who  wrote 
before  the  war  over  the  nom  de  plume  of  "  Mozis 
Addums."  The  quality  of  his  serious  work  was 
higher  than  that  of  the  other  sketch-writers  enu- 
merated; and,  being  wider  in  its  scope,  its  value 
was  greater  than  theirs,  though  his  writings  were 
never  published  in  book  form  until  after  his  death, 
when  two  volumes  were  brought  out  in  Richmond, 
Virginia.  Much  of  his  writing  was  done  after  the 
war,  but  prior  to  that  period  he  had  accomplished 
enough  to  entitle  him  to  the  credit  of  being  a  lit- 
erary man  at  a  time  when  literature  in  the  South 
was  without  the  compensations  by  which  it  was 
subsequently  attended. 


AUTHORSHIP   BEFORE   THE   WAR  87 

No  one  has  ever  written  so  delicately  of  the 
South,  and  his  "Old  Virginia  Gentleman"  is  the 
most  beautiful  sketch  of  life  in  the  South  that  has 
ever  appeared. 

Besides  these  classes  of  writers  there  existed 
another  class  whose  writings  not  only  far  exceeded 
in  volume  those  of  the  authors  who  have  been  men- 
tioned, but  were  also  far  more  successful. 

The  chief  of  these  were  Mrs.  Caroline  Lee  Hentz, 
Mrs.  E.  D.  E.  N.  Southworth,  Mrs.  Catherine  Ann 
Warfield,  and  Miss  Augusta  J.  Evans.  They  were 
followed  by  a  sisterhood  of  writers  far  too  numerous 
for  mention,  whose  work,  whatever  its  permanent 
value,  is  entitled  to  honorable  notice  as  evidencing 
an  ambition  on  the  part  of  the  Southern  women  to 
create  a  Southern  literature.  There  were  about 
two  hundred  in  all,  who  have  written  novels,  books 
of  travel,  sketches,  and  volumes  of  poems.  If  they 
have  not  generally  soared  very  high,  they  have  at 
least  lifted  themselves  above  the  common  level,  and 
are  entitled  to  the  respect  of  the  South  for  their 
loyal  endeavor  to  do  their  part  towards  her  eleva- 
tion. Both  Mrs.  Hentz  and  Mrs.  Southworth  wrote 
many  novels  and  yet  more  numerous  sketches,  the 
popularity  of  which  in  their  day  was  extraordinary. 
Perhaps  the  best  of  Mrs.  Hentz's  romances  are 
"The  Mob-Cap"  (1848),  "Linda"  (1850),  "Kena" 
(1851),  and  "The  Planter's  Northern  Bride."  Mrs. 
Southworth  has  written  over  fifty  novels,  besides 
shorter  stories.  Her  first  book,  "Retribution," 


88  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

written  for  the  Washington  National  Era,  was 
subsequently  published  in  a  volume  in  1849,  and 
had  an  immense  sale.  It  was  rapidly  followed 
by  "  The  Deserted  Wife,"  "  The  Missing  Bride," 
"  Love's  Labor  Won,"  "  The  Lost  Heiress,"  "  Fallen 
Pride,"  "  Curse  of  Clifton,"  etc.,  to  the  number 
above  stated.  In  all  of  these  novels  the  element 
of  romance  is  emphasized.  Some  of  Mrs.  South- 
worth's  books  were  vehemently  assailed,  but,  as 
the  public  is  much  more  intent  on  being  entertained 
than  on  being  elevated,  they  generally  attained  an 
extensive  popularity.  The  Southern  life  is  utilized 
by  both  these  writers,  but  in  so  exaggerated  or 
unreal  a  form  that  the  pictures  are  too  untrue  to  be 
relied  on.  Both  authors  were  of  Northern  birth, 
whilst  their  lives  were  spent  at  the  South.  Is  it 
significant  of  the  fact  that  the  Northern  literary 
press  was  not  in  "old  times"  open  to  writers  of 
Southern  birth,  or  that  public  sentiment  was  against 
Southern  women  publishing,  or  of  both  ? 

Mrs.  Terhune  ("Marion  Harland")  is  entitled 
to  stand  in  a  class  by  herself,  since  her  books 
"Alone,"  "The  Hidden  Path,"  "Moss  Side,"  and 
"  Nemesis,"  which  were  published  before  the  war, 
as  well  as  those  which  have  appeared  since  that 
time,  are  in  a  much  higher  literary  key  than  those 
of  the  authors  named.  Like  the  others,  she  has 
used  the  Southern  life  as  material  in  her  work; 
but  she  has  exhibited  a  literary  sense  of  a  far  higher 
order,  and  an  artistic  touch  to  which  the  others  are 
strangers. 


AUTHORSHIP   BEFORE   THE    WAR  89 

There  existed  yet  another  class,  whose  work, 
although  not  extensive  in  amount,  was  yet  of  a 
quality  to  enlist  the  attention  and  evoke  the  respect 
of  American  readers.  The  Southern  poets  were  not 
numerous  :  poetry  even  more  peculiarly  than  prose 
demands  a  sympathetic  atmosphere.  Such  was  not 
to  be  found  at  the  South.  The  standards  there  were 
Shakespeare,  Dryden,  and  Pope;  no  less  would  be 
tolerated.  Before  Wilde  could  admit  his  author- 
ship of  "  My  Life  is  like  the  Summer  Rose "  he 
had  to  establish  himself  as  a  fine  lawyer  and  an  able 
politician ;  Philip  Pendleton  Cooke,  as  an  offset  to 
"  Florence  Vane"  and  the  "Froissart  Ballads,"  found 
it  necessary  to  avouch  his  manhood  .as  the  crack 
turkey-shot  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia.  Yet  the 
poets  wrote,  if  not  much,  still  real  poetry,  and 
poetry  which  will  live  as  a  part  of  the  best  Ameri- 
can literature.  In  this  domain,  as  in  others,  Poe 
soared  high  above  all  the  rest.  He  was  not  profuse ; 
but  he  was  excellent,  pre-eminent.  He  is  one  of  the 
poets  of  the  English-speaking  race.  Wilde,  Cooke, 
Pinkney,  Key,  Meek,  Lamar,  Lipscomb,  Vawter,  and 
others  have  been  already  referred  to.  The  "  Sonnet 
to  a  Mocking-bird  "  by  the  first  is  as  fine  as  his  other 
more  popular  poem  already  mentioned.  Mr.  Wilde 
resided  in  Italy  for  some  time,  and  published  the 
result  of  his  researches  there  in  a  work  in  two 
volumes,  entitled  "  Conjectures  and  Eesearches  con- 
cerning the  Love,  Madness,  and  Imprisonment  of 
Torquato  Tasso,"  which  contains  fine  translations 


90  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

from  Tasso  and  is  otherwise  valuable.  He  also 
wrote  a  "  Life  of  Dante,"  and  a  long  poem  entitled 
"Hesperia,"  besides  a  number  of  translations  of 
Italian  lyrics  which  were  not  published  until  after 
his  death. 

Cooke,  besides  "Florence  Vane,"  which  Poe  de- 
clared the  sweetest  lyric  ever  written  in  America, 
and  which  has  been  translated  into  many  foreign 
languages,  wrote  many  other  lyrics,  of  which  the 
most  popular  and  perhaps  the  best  are  the  "  Lines 
to  my  Daughter  Lily  "  and  "  Rosa  Lee."  He  also 
wrote  a  number  of  sketches,  among  which  are  "  John 
Carpe,"  "The  Gregories  of  Hackwood,"  and  "The 
Crime  of  Andrew  Blair." 

He  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-three,  when  his  bril- 
liant powers  were  still  in  bud. 

Edward  Coate  Piukney  was  a  member  of  a  family 
distinguished  for  literary  taste  and  ability.  His 
uncle,  Ninian  Pinkney,  as  early  as  1809  published 
a  book  of  "  Travels  in  the  South  of  France  and  in 
the  Interior  of  the  Provinces  of  Provence  and  Lan- 
guedoc,"  of  which  Leigh  Hunt  said,  "  It  set  all  the 
idle  world  to  going  to  France  to  live  on  the  charming 
banks  of  the  Loire." 

His  brother  Frederick  was  also  a  poet.  Pinkney's 
poems  were  so  exquisite  that  after  their  first  pub- 
lication in  1825  he  was  requested  to  sit  for  a  por- 
trait to  be  included  in  a  sketch  of  "The  Five 
Greatest  Poets  of  the  Nation."  "  A  Health  "  and 
"  The  Picture  Song "  have  an  established  place  in 
our  literature. 


AUTHORSHIP   BEFORE   THE   WAR  91 

Lanier  and  Ticknor,  of  Georgia ;  John  R.  Thomp- 
son, of  Virginia ;  Dimitry,  of  Louisiana ;  Ryan,  etc., 
belong  to  a  later  time.  Sidney  Lanier  was  easily 
the  next  Southern  poet  to  Poe,  and  has  not  been 
surpassed  by  any  other  that  this  country  has  pro- 
duced. 

Perhaps  Henry  Timrod  and  Paul  H.  Hayne  also 
more  properly  belong  to  that  period,  but  before  the 
war  they  had  done  work  which  by  its  worth  and 
volume  entitles  them  to  be  ranked  of  all  Southern 
poets  next  after  Poe. 

Hayne  in  South  Carolina  was,  with  Simms  and 
others,  inspiring  just  before  the  war  an  emulation 
which  promised  a  brighter  literary  f  uture  than  there 
had  previously  been  ground  to  hope  for.  John  R. 
Thompson,  as  editor  of  the  Southern  Literary  Mes- 
senger, was  performing  the  same  work  for  Virginia. 
Had  Hayne  and  Thompson  received  greater  encour- 
agement, their  fine  talents  might  have  yielded  a 
return  which  would  have  made  their  native  land 
as  proud  of  her  brilliant  sons  as  they  deserved. ' 

Besides  the  authors  mentioned  in  this  paper,  there 
were  very  many  others  who,  by  occasional  essays  at 
literature  in  prose  or  in  verse,  attained  something 
more  than  a  local  reputation,  but  they  were  dis- 
tinguished rather  in  other  professions  than  in  lit- 
erature, whilst  most  of  those  which  have  been 
mentioned  are  now  chiefly  distinguished  for  the 
literary  work  they  accomplished. 

If  it  shall  appear  from  this  very  imperfect  sum- 


92  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

mary  of  the  literary  work  done  by  the  South,  and 
of  the  causes  which  influenced  it,  that  the  amount 
produced  was  small,  attention  should  be  called 
again  first,  to  the  insignificant  number  of  the 
slave-holding  whites  of  the  South,  from  whom  alone, 
as  the  educated  class,  a  literature  could  come ;  and 
secondly,  to  the  intellectual  energy  which  that 
limited  population  displayed  throughout  the  entire 
period  of  their  existence.  The  intellectual  work 
they  accomplished  will  compare  not  unfavorably 
with  that  of  a  similar  number  of  any  other  people 
during  the  same  period;  and  the  thoughtful  and 
dispassionate  student,  to  whatever  causes  he  may 
deem  to  be  due  the  absence  of  a  literature  among 
the  Southern  people,  will  not  attribute  it  to  either 
mental  indigence  or  mental  lassitude. 


GLIMPSES   OF  LIFE   IN  COLONIAL 
VIRGINIA 


GLIMPSES   OF  LIFE   IN   COLONIAL 
VIRGINIA 

FEW  things  relating  to  the  South  have  been  more 
misunderstood  than  its  social  life.  Even  the  South- 
ern people  themselves  have  not  generally  had  a 
very  correct  idea  of  its  proportions. 

Owing  to  the  astounding  indifference  of  our  peo- 
ple to  the  preservation  of  records ;  to  the  extraor- 
dinary environment  in  which  they  were  placed ;  to 
the  wonderful  rapidity  with  which  the  country 
advanced  in  its  development,  ever  pushing  its  con- 
fines further  and  further  before  the  interior  could 
be  filled  in,  there  are  scarcely  any  written  records 
of  our  life  remaining  extant.  Few  letters,  journals, 
or  accounts  have  been  published  or  even  preserved, 
and  the  records  to  which  writers  have  gone  for 
their  materials  are  almost  exclusively  the  impres- 
sions of  temporary  sojourners,  who  at  one  time  or 
another  have  passed  hastily  through  our  borders, 
generally  without  either  the  opportunity  or  the 
capacity  to  form  other  than  a  hasty  or  prejudiced 
opinion. 

The  Southern  civilization  was  in  its  character  as 

96 


96  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

distinctive  as  was  that  of  Greece,  Carthage,  Eome, 
or  VemceT^  It  has  had  no  chronicler  to  tell  its  story 
in  that  spirit  of  sympathy  from  which  alone  can 
come  the  lights  and  shadings  on  which  depend 
perspective  and  real  truth. 

It  deserves  such  a  recorder,  for  it  produced  results 
the  consequences  of  which  may  never  cease.  Among 
them  is  this  nation. 

The  social  life  of  a  people  embraces  their  daily 
life  in  their  homes,  with  all  that  relates  to  their 
social  customs  and  intercourse.  It  is  at  once  the 
occasion  and  the  reflection  of  the  character  of  the 
people.  Whatever  may  throw  light  on  these  is 
relevant  to  the  subject. 

It  is,  therefore,  pertinent  to  investigate  the 
causes  which  contributed  to  any  distinctive  form 
which  that  life  may  have  taken,  to  show  that  pecul- 
iar form  itself,  and  to  touch  upon  the  results  it 
produced. 

The  structure  of  that  life  was,  in  the  first  place, 
consequent  upon  the  origin  of  the  people,  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  were  planted  here,  and  the  condi- 
tions of  their  existence ;  whilst  the  continuance  of 
the  institution  of  domestic  slavery  constituted  a 
otent  force  in  giving  to  it  its  distinctive  character, 
he  shadow  of  this  institution  appears  to  have 
fallen  upon  it,  and  to  have  prevented  a  wholly  just 
and  proper  view  of  its  true  character. 

But  though  it  is  impossible  to  do  more  in  a 
single  paper  than  simply  suggest  the  outline  of  the 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  97 

complete  picture,  yet  the  attempt  will  be  made  to 
draw  that  outline  in  the  hope  that  some  abler  artist 
may  one  day  give  the  world  the  very  lines  and  spirit 
of  what  is  believed  by  some  to  have  been  the  sweet- 
est, purest,  and  most  beautiful  life  ever  lived. 

And  first,  as  to  its  origin. 

Long  before  any  English  colony  was  permanently- 
established  on  these  shores,  England,  in  envy  of 
Spain,  was  looking  about  to  assert  a  claim  to  a 
part  of  the  new  world,  the  wealth  of  which  was  so 
fabulous. 

The  first  charter  to  John  Cabot,  in  1496,  confined 
his  discoveries  to  the  region  north  of  44°  N.  lati- 
tude, recognizing  Spain's  right,  as  fixed  by  the 
Pope,  to  all  that  might  lie  south  of  that  degree. 
Edward  VI.,  being  Protestant,  his  charter  to  the 
"merchant  adventurers"  did  not  regard  these 
bounds.  Mary,  however,  shackled  by  religious 
bigotry  and  the  influence  of  Philip,  restrained  the 
growing  enterprise  of  her  subjects,  and  humbly  sub- 
mitting to  the  Pope's  decrees,  once  more  yielded  to 
Spain  all  that  country  claimed.  Elizabeth  was  of 
different  stuff.  She  flung  down  the  gauntlet.  Her 
first  parliament  vested  in  her  the  supremacy  claimed 
by  the  Pope,  with  all  that  it  implied.  From  this 
time  America  became  the  prize  between  Roman 
Catholicism  and  Protestantism.  In  1562  Admiral 
Coligny  attempted  to  establish  a  Huguenot  colony 
in  South  Carolina,  and  two  years  later  he  settled 
a  small  colony  in  Florida,  where  most  of  his  colo- 


98  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

nists  were  subsequently  killed  by  the  Spaniards. 
Captain  John  Hawkins,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  Lord  Robert  Dudley,  Sir  William 
Cecil,  and  other  nobles,  voyaged  to  the  South  and 
made  explorations.  This  Spain  would  not  endure. 
In  1568  Hawkins,  then  on  his  third  voyage,  met 
and  had  a  great  sea  fight  with  the  Spaniards  off 
Vera  Cruz,  in  which  he  lost  three  of  his  ships.  He 
was  forced  to  put  ashore  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
of  his  men,  several  of  whom  marched  north  along 
the  coast.  The  Spaniards  caught  most  of  those 
who  remained,  sentenced  sixty-eight  of  them  to 
the  galleys,  and  burnt  three  of  them,  —  America's 
first  auto  dafe. 

Reports  of  the  fabulous  wealth  of  this  Southern 
land  had  spread  in  England.  The  merchant  adven- 
turers had  long  been  watching  the  stream  of  wealth 
pouring  through  the  plate  galleons  into  Spain. 
They  had  got  an  act  passed  extending  their  privi- 
leges and  setting  forth  their  object  "for  the  dis- 
covery of  new  trades."  The  prize  was  coveted  by 
others  than  the  merchants,  and  the  new  land  was 
claimed  as  "fatally  reserved  for  England."  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  in  the  summer  of  1584,  began  to 
take  an  interest  in  American  enterprises.  He  was 
interested  in  Raleigh's  voyage,  but  projected  an 
expedition  under  the  command  of  Sir  Francis 
Drake  and  himself,  a  scheme  which  Fulke  Greville 
says  "was  the  exactest  model  Europe  ever  saw, 
a  conquest  not  to  be  enterprised  but  by  Sir  Philip's 


LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  VIRGINIA       99 

reaching  spirit  that  grasped  all  circumstances  and 
interests." 

Elizabeth  had  taken  into  her  favor  a  young 
man  who  even  in  that  adventurous  age  had  dis- 
played extraordinary  qualities,  a  young  Devon- 
shire gentleman,  described  by  an  old  chronicler  as 
"of  a  good  presence  in  a  well-compacted  body, 
strong,  natural  wit  and  better  judgment,  a  bold  and 
plausible  tongue,  the  fancy  of  a  poet,  and  the  chiv- 
alry of  a  soldier."  He  was  cousin  to  Sir  Richard 
Grenville,  who  brought  undying  fame  to  our  race 
when  with  the  little  Revenge  he  fought  the  Spaniard 
at  Flores,  and  he  was  half-brother  to  those  bold, 
adventurous  navigators,  Sir  Humphrey,  Sir  John, 
and  Sir  Adrian  Gilbert,  who  with  him  did  more 
than  any  other  family  to  wrest  this  continent  from 
Spain  and  make  it  an  "  English  nation."  Dashing 
soldier  as  he  was,  queller  of  rebellions,  patron  of 
poets,  stout  hater  and  fighter  of  Spain,  "admiral 
and  shepherd  of  the  ocean,"  it  was  his  highest  title 
that  he  was  "  Lord  and  Chief  Governor  of  Virginia." 
It  is  likewise  one  of  Virginia's  chief  glories  that 
she  owes  her  name  and  her  being,  at  least  in  its 
peculiar  form,  to  the  stout,  high-minded,  and  chi- 
valric  soldier,  the  most  picturesque  character  in 
modern  history,  — second  in  his  work  only  to  Chris- 
topher Columbus, — Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Although  the  colonies  which  Raleigh  planted 
perished,  his  mighty  enterprise  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  final  establishment  of  Virginia,  and  his 


100  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

spirit  fixed  its  imperishable  impress  upon  the  work 
and  gave  it  its  distinctive  character.  He  was  at 
Oxford  when  England  thrilled  with  the  news  of 
Hawkins's  third  voyage.  He  left  the  University  to 
fight  the  Spaniard  in  the  low  country.  From  that 
time  Spain  was  his  quarry.  He  spent  his  great 
life  in  wresting  America  from  her  hands.  He 
awakened  in  England  an  interest  in  the  new  land 
which  never  died  out;  made  its  holding  a  matter 
of  national  pride  and  national  principle;  excited 
British  pride  and  religious  fervor ;  stimulated  the 
flagging,  awakened  public  enthusiasm ;  aroused  the 
Church,  and  created  the  spirit  which,  in  spite  of 
numberless  disasters  and  repeated  failures,  finally 
verified  his  high  prophecy  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil, 
that  he  would  "live  to  see  Virginia  an  English 
nation." 

The  names  of  the  men  who  engaged  in  these 
enterprises  are  enough  to  show  how  the  aristocratic 
character  became  fixed  on  the  Southern  settlement. 
The  South  was  settled  not  merely  under  the  pat- 
ronage of,  but  largely  by,  the  better  class  in  Eng- 
land. The  queen  sent  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  an 
anchor  set  with  jewels,  and  a  message  that  she 
"  wished  him  as  great  hap  and  safety  to  his  ship  as 
if  she  herself  were  there  in  person." 

Kaleigh's  high  spirit  gave  the  colony  a  priceless 
benefaction.  He  obtained  in  his  charter  (of  1584) 
a  provision  that  his  colonists  should  "  have  all  the 
privileges  of  free  denizens  and  natives  of  England, 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  101 

and  were  to  be  governed  according  to  such  statutes 
as  should  by  them  be  established,  so  that  the  said 
statutes  or  laws  conform  as  conveniently  as  may 
be  with  those  of  England,"  etc. 

These  guaranties  were  the  rock  on  which  the 
American  people  founded  their  impregnable  claim 
to  those  rights  which  are  now  deemed  inherent  and 
inalienable.  They  bore  an  important  parTTlifthe 
social  as  well  as  the  political  life  of  the  people. 
They  were  renewed  in  the  charter  of  1606  under 
which  the  colony  came  which  finally  secured  in 
Virginia  a  lasting  foothold,  and  established  here, 
the  rule  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  They  were  never 
forgot  by  the  stout  adventurers  who  came  to  endure '  '• 
the  hardships  of  the  New  World,  "leaving  th$ir  ' 
bodies  in  testimonie  of  their  minds." 

vS    E5* 

They  formed  the  foundation  of  that  pride  and  in- 
dependence which  became  so  notable  a  characteristic   - 
of  the  social  life  and  gave  it  its  individuality. 

For  many  years  daring  young  members  of  the  ££, 
great  families  with  their  retainers  had  been  going 
abroad,  taking  service  in  the  low  countries,  and 
feeding  their  instinct  for  adventure.  The  wars 
were  now  over ;  London  was  filled  with  these  sol- 
diers, without  means  and  with  the  wandering  habit 
strong  on  them,  brave  to  recklessness,  without 
steady  habits  of  industry,  ready  for  any  adventure. 
Filled  with  the  enthusiasm  of  exploration  and  col- 
onization, fired  by  the  tales  of  the  Gilberts,  of 
Grenville,  Hawkins,  Gosnold,  Stukeley,  and  others, 


102  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

the  coloniziug  spirit  of  the  English  race  found  here 
a  field  ;  and  Virginia  became  the  El  Dorado  of  the 
British  nation. 

Thus  Virginia  was  settled  with  a  strong  English 
feeling  ingrained  in  her,  with  English  customs  and 
habits  of  life,  with  English  ideas  modified  only  to 
suit  the  conditions  of  existence  here. 

Among  the  chief  factors  which  influenced  the  Vir- 
ginia life  and  moulded  it  in  its  peculiar  form  were 
this  English  feeling  (which  was  almost  strong 
enough  to  be  termed  a  race  feeling) ;  the  aristocratic 
tendency;  the 'happy  combination  of  soil,  climate 
and  agricultural  product  (tobacco),  which  made 
them  an  'agricultural  people,  and  enabled  them  to 
support  a  generous  style  of  living  as  lauded  gentry ; 
the  Church  with  its  strong  organization ;  and  the 
instituti«tt.jQf  slavery. 

The  fabulous  reports  of  Virginia's  wealth,  so 
well  known  that  it  was  travestied  upon  the  stage 
as  a  land  where  the  pots  and  pans  and  the  very 
chains  that  bound  the  slaves  were  of  gold,  and 
jewels  of  marvellous  value  were  picked  up  on  the 
seashore  to  adorn  the  savage  children,  undoubtedly 
at  first  induced  many  adventurers  to  come  to  Vir- 
ginia who  had  no  thought  of  remaining  longer  than 
was  necessary  to  make  fortunes  which  they  pro- 
posed to  spend  in  England.  These  were  followed 
by  others  who  wished  not  to  sever  altogether  their 
old  ties,  and  for  many  years  life  here  must  have 
been  intolerably  hard  to  those  accustomed  to  the 


LIFE   IN  COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  103 

pleasant  paths  of  old  En  gland.  Thus  England  for 
several  generations  was  to  the  Virginians  "home." 

The  commerce  with  her  through  the  ports  of  the 
Chesapeake  was  direct,  vessels  loading  with  tobacco 
from  the  warehouses  of  the  planters  on  the  rivers. 
"Every  person  may,  with  ease,  procure  a  small 
plantation,  can  ship  his  tobacco  at  his  own  door, 
and  live  independent,"  says  the  English  traveller 
Burnaby. 

This  proved  a  strong  and  ever  fresh  bond,  pre- 
serving as  it  did  immediate  and  constant  inter- 
course between  the  new  country  and  the  old. 

The  land-holding  instinct  of  the  people  displayed 
itself  from  the  first,  and  they  settled  large  planta- 
tions along  the  rivers,  where  the  fertility  of  the  soil 
enabled  them  to  raise  tobacco,  and  the  waterways 
afforded  them  means  to  ship.  Here  they  set  up 
establishments  as  nearly  like  those  of  the  landed 
gentry  of  England  as  the  conditions  of  the  new 
land  admitted. 

The  existence  of  African  slaves  brought  in  by 
Dutch,  English,  and  New  England  traders,  and  the 
exportation  from  England  of  persons  who  were 
sold  as  indented  servants,  enabled  the  Virginians 
to  cultivate  their  lands,  and  gave  them  the  means 
to  support  their  pretensions  as  a  landed  gentry. 
The  institution  of  slavery  was  a  potent  factor.  In 
the  beginning  it  was  slow  in  its  grow_th. 

The  first  cargo  were  but  20,  who  were  brought  in 
a  Dutch  ship,  which  put  into  Hampton  Roads  in 


104  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

1619.  In  1749  there  were  but  300  in  the  colony. 
The  first  American  slaver,  The  Desire,  had,  how- 
ever, been  fitted  out  at  Salem  in  1636,  and  others 
followed,  and  in  1670  there  were  2000  negroes  in 
the  colony  ;  in  1714  there  were  but  23,000,  and  in 
1756,  120,000,  52,000  more  being  in  the  other  colo- 
nies, including  New  England. 

existence  of  slaves  emphasized  the  class  dis- 


tinction and  created  a  system  of  castes,  making  the 
social  system  of  Virginia  as  strongly  aristocratic  as 
tl^at  in  England. 

\  The  law  itself  recognized  the  distinction  of  class. 
"  Such  persons  of  quality,"  says  an  act  of  1835-36, 
"  as  shall  be  found  delinquent  in  their  duties,  being 
not  fitt  to  undergoe  corporal  punishment,  may  not- 
withstanding be  ymprisoned  at  the  discretion  of  ye 
commander."  The  governor  was  empowered  to 
"  presse  men  of  the  ordinary  sort  "  to  work  on  the 
State  House,  paying  of  course  proper  wages  in 
tobacco. 

There  were  no  titles  save  the  "  Honourables  "  of 
the  counsellors,  the  "Esquires,"  and  the  "Colo- 
nels," who  commanded  in  the  various  counties. 

Titles  could  have  added  nothing  to  their  distinc- 
tion. They  erected  their  brick  mansions  on  the 
hills  above  the  rivers,  flanked  by  their  offices  and 
out-buildings,  placed  their  negro  quarters  conven- 
iently behind  them,  and  ruled  in  a  system  as  ma- 
norial as  that  in  the  old  country. 

The  royal  governors  aided  this  aristocratic  ten- 


LLFE  IN   COLONIAL  VIRGINIA  105 

dency.     Many  of  them  were  men  of  rank  at  home, 
and  when  they  came  over  they  set  up  in  the  Prov- 
ince a  court  as  nearly  vice-regal  as  their  circum- 
stances admitted.     The  House  of  Burgesses  was 
like  the  House  of  Commons,  and  was  composed  of 
men  of  any  class.     The  King's  Council  of  twelve 
having  the  powers  of  a  general  court,  besides  pos- 
sessing certain  executive   powers,  was  appointed, . 
and  came  insensibly  to  be  a  "miniature  House  of  • 
Lords,"  untitled  and  not  hereditary  it  is  true,  but  j 
yet   practically   controlled    by  the   great    planter' 
families. 

The  English  system  of  primogeniture  and  of 
entail  prevailed  in  as  rigid  a  form  as  in  the  old 
country.  The  fostering  sympathy  of  the  Church 
bore  its  fruit ;  and  the  established  Church  at  home 
became  naturally  the  established  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia, a  law  being  passed  by  the  General  Assembly 
(1624-32)  that  the  colony  is  to  conform  "both  in 
canons  and  constitution  to  the  Church  of  England, 
as  near  as  may  be."  "They  made  many  laws 
against  the  Puritans,  though  they  were  free  from 
them,"  writes  the  Rev.  Hugh  Jones  in  his  "  Pres- 
ent State  of  Virginia,"  p.  23.  Both  "  Papists  "  and 
"Puritans"  were  dealt  with  vigorously,  being 
driven  out  either  to  Maryland  or  New  England ; 
and  non-conformists  were  held  to  strict  compliance 
with  the  law. 

Undoubtedly  many,  both  at  first  and  later  on,  ~ 
came  to  Virginia  who  were  not  of  gentle  birth ;  but 


106  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

the  Hues  were  too  clearly  drawn  to  admit  of  con- 
fusion ;  those  who  possessed  the  personal  force 
requisite,  rose  and  were  absorbed  into  the  upper 
class  ;  but  the  great  body  of  them  remained  a  class 
distinct  from  this.  In  the  contest  between  Charles 
I.  and  his  Parliament,  the  people  of  Virginia,  fol- 
lowing their  instincts,  at  the  final  rupture  sided 
overwhelmingly  with  the  king,  and  Virginia  had 
become  so  well  recognized  as  an  aristocratic  coun- 
/  A,Ty  that  after  the  failure  of  the  Royalist  arms, 
'  /  there  was  a  notable  emigration  of  followers  of  the 
king  to  the  colony,  which,  under  the  stout  old 
Cavalier  governor,  Sir  William  Berkeley,  had  been 
unswerving  in  its  loyalty.  When  the  king  was 
beheaded,  the  House  of  Burgesses  gave  expression 
to  the  general  horror.  One  of  the  first  acts,  if  not 
the  very  first,  speaks  of  him  as  "The  late,  most 
excellent,  and  now  undoubtedly  sainted  King,"  and 
provides  that  "  what  person  soever  shall  go  about 
to  defend  or  maintain  the  late  traitorous  proceed- 
ings against  the  aforesaid  King  of  most  happy 
memory  shall  be  adjudged  an  accessory,  post-fac- 
tum  to  the  death  of  the  aforesaid  King,  and  shall 
be  proceeded  against  for  the  same,  according  to  the 
known  laws  of  England." 

Holding  true  to  the  crown  the  Virginians,  when 
Charles  II.  was  a  fugitive  in  Holland,  sent  commis- 
sioners to  offer  him  an  unlapsed  kingdom  beyond 
the  seas,  and,  according  to  Jones,  she  was  the  last 
to  acknowledge  Cromwell  and  the  first  to  proclaim 


LIFE  IX    COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  107 

king  Charles  II.  even  before  the  Restoration  ("Pres- 
ent State  of  Virginia,"  p.  23). 

Yet  there  was  that  in  the  Virginians  which  dis- 
tinguished them,  for  all  their  aristocratic  preten- 
sions, from  their  British  cousins.  Grafted  on  the 
aristocratic  instinct  was  a  jealous  watchfulness  of 
their  liberties,  a  guardfulness  of  their  rights,  which 
developed  into  a  sterling  republicanism,  notwith- 
standing the  aristocratic  instinct.  The  standard 
was  not  birth  nor  family  connection;  it  was  one 
based  on  individual  attainment. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  had  obtained  a  guarantee  of 
British  rights  in  his  charter.  Sir  Francis  Wyatt 
had  brought  over  in  1622  a  charter  with  an  exten- 
sion of  these  rights.  The  General  Assembly,  con- 
vened in  1619  when  there  were  only  eleven  boroughs, 
jealously  guarded  their  liberties.  They  refused  to 
give  their  records  for  inspection  to  the  royal  com- 
missioners, and  when  their  clerk  disobeyed  them 
and  gave  them  up,  they  cut  off  one  of  his  ears  and 
put  him  in  the  pillory.  They  passed  statutes  limit- 
ing the  power  of  the  governor  to  lay  taxes  only 
through  the  General  Assembly. 

When  Charles  I.,  for  whom  they  were  ready  to 
vote  or  fight,  claimed  a  monopoly  of  the  tobacco 
trade,  the  loyal  people  of  Virginia  protested  with  a 
vigor  which  brought  him  to  a  stand ;  when  Cromwell 
sent  his  governor,  they  deposed  him  and  immedi- 
ately re-elected  him  that  he  might  act  only  by  their 
authority.  They  offered  Charles  II.  a  kingdom  : 


108  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

but  when  he  granted  the  Northern  Neck  to  Culpepper 
and  Arlington  they  grew  ready  for  revolution. 

Many  of  the  best  known  of  the  older  families 
/  of  Virginia  are  descended  from  royalist  refugees. 

On  the  Restoration  some  of  the  adherents  of  the 
Commonwealth,  finding  England  too  hot  for  them, 
came  over ;  but  they  were  held  in  no  very  high  gen- 
eral esteem,  and  the  old  order  continued  to  prevail. 

The  spirit  of  the  colony  will  appear  from  the 
following  act,  which  was  adopted  18th  March, 
1660-61 :  "  Whereas  our  late  surrender  and  submis- 
sion to  that  execrable  power,  that  soe  bloodyly 
massacred  the  late  King  Charles  I.  of  blessed  [in 
a  revision  is  added,  "  and  glorious  "]  memory,  hath 
made  us,  by  acknowledging  them  guilty  of  their 
crimes,  to  show  our  serious  and  hearty  repentance 
and  detestation  of  that  barbarous  act,  Bee  itt  en- 
acted that  the  30th  of  January,  the  day  the  said 
King  was  beheaded,  be  annually  solemnized  with 
fasting  and  prayers  that  our  sorrowes  may  expiate 
our  crime  and  our  teares  wash  away  our  guilt" 
(Hen.  Vol.  11,  p.  24). 

As  the  eighteenth  century  passed,  the  settlement 
pushed  further  and  further  westward.  A  new  ele- 
\inent  came  in  by  way  of  the  upper  valley  of  Vir- 
ginia, stout  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  settlers,  from 
Scotland  first,  and  then  from  Ireland,  with  the 
colonizing  spirit  strong  in  them ;  simple  in  their 
life,  stern  in  their  faith,  dauntless  in  their  courage, 
a  race  to  found  and  to  hold  new  lands  against  all 


LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  VIRGINIA  109 

comers  or  claimants ;  a  race  whose  spirit  was 
more  potent  than  the  line  of  forts  with  which  the 
French  attempted  to  hem  them  in  along  the  Belle 
Kiviere.  They  founded  a  new  colony  looking  to  the 
West  and  the  new  land,  as  the  old  planter  settlers 
towards  the  sea  looked  to  the  East  and  the  old. 

Burnaby,  the  traveller  already  quoted,  paid  a 
visit  to  the  valley  in  which  they  had  first  made 
their  home.  "  I  could  not  but  reflect  with  pleasure 
on  the  situation  of  these  people,"  says  he,  "  and 
think  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  happiness  in  this 
life  that  they  enjoy  it.  Far  from  the  bustle  of  the 
world,  they  live  in  the  most  delightful  climate  and 
richest  soil  imaginable;  they  are  everywhere  sur- 
rounded with  beautiful  prospects  and  sylvan  scenes ; 
lofty  mountains,  transparent  streams,  falls  of  water, 
rich  valleys,  and  majestic  woods ;  the  whole  inter- 
spersed with  an  infinite  variety  of  flowering  shrubs, 
constitute  the  landscape  surrounding  them.  .  .  . 
They  live  in  perfect  liberty,  they  are  ignorant  of 
want  and  acquainted  with  but  few  vices.  .  .  . 
They  possess  what  many  princes  would  give  half 
their  dominions  for,  health,  content,  and  tranquil- 
lity of  mind." 

Now  and  then  the  lines  crossed,  and,  with  inter- 
course, gradually  the  aristocratic  tendency  of  the 
seaboard  and  Piedmont  became  grafted  into  the 
patriarchal  system  of  the  valley,  distinctly  color- 
ing it,  though  the  absence  of  slaves  in  numbers  j 
softened  the  lines  marking  the  class-distinctions.  ' 


110  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

The  lands  were  sometimes  held  on  a  feudal  ten- 
ure. William  Byrd  held  and  let  his  lands  at  the 
Falls  of  James  on  a  feudal  tenure. 

"  And  he  shall  become  bound  and  obliged,"  runs 
the  grant,  "  to  seat  the  whole  number  of  fifty  able 
men  armed  and  constantly  furnished  with  sufficient 
ammunition  and  provisions  together  with  such 
number  of  tithable  persons,  not  exceeding  250  in 
the  whole  on  both  sides  of  said  River,"  etc. 

On  this  spot  now  stands  Eichmond,  which  in  the 
great  civil  war  was  for  four  years  the  point  of 
attack  by  the  Northern  armies. 

A  similar  grant  on  the  Rappahannock  River  was 
made  to  Lawrence  Smith,  and  was  offered  to  any 
other  persons  at,  or  near,  the  heads  of  any  other  of 
the  great  rivers,  on  condition  of  their  placing  there 
military  forces  and  other  persons  "for  the  protec- 
tion of  his  Majesty's  country  against  our  barba- 
rous enemy,  the  Indians." 

Indeed,  the  wealthy  planter  families  from  the 
rivers,  holding  their  places  in  council  generation 
after  generation,  and  ever  spreading  out  more  and 
more,  maintained  a  system  as  nearly  a  copy  of  that 
in  England  when  they  came  over,  as  the  condi- 
tions of  the  new  land  admitted. 

The  royal  governor  occupied,  in  the  capital  city, 
a  mansion  called  the  "Palace,"  and  during  the 
sessions  of  the  Assembly  the  gentle-folk  of  the  col- 
ony assembled  at  Williamsburg,  and  "the  season" 
was  celebrated  as  distinctly  as  it  was  in  London 
during  the  sitting  of  Parliament. 


LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  VIRGINIA  111 

Here  is  a  picture  of  the  capital :  "  There  is  one 
handsome  street  in.  it,  just  a  mile  in  length,  with 
the  capitol  on  one  side  of  the  street;  and  the 
college  of  William  and  Mary,  an  old  monastic 
structure,  at  the  other  end.  About  the  middle 
between  them  on  the  north  side,  a  little  distance 
retired  from  the  street,  stands  the  palace,  the  resi- 
dence of  the  governor;  a  large,  commodious  and 
handsome  building." 

"Here  dwell  several  good  families,"  says  the 
Rev.  Hugh  Jones,  who  had  lived  among  them, 
"and  more  reside  here  in  their  own  houses  at 
public  times.  They  live  in  the  same  neat  manner, 
dress  after  the  same  modes,  and  behave  themselves 
exactly  as  the  gentry  in  London.  Most  families  of 
any  note  having  a  coach,  chariot,  berlin,  or  chaise." 

The  people  being  almost  universally  agricultural, 
and  there  being  no  cities  and  no  great  difference  of 
interests,  the  structure  of  society  was  naturally 
simple. 

The  African  slaves  formed  by  position  and  race 
the  lowest  stratum.  Next  to  them  were  the  indented 
servants,  and  the  lowest  class  of  whites,  composed 
of  indented  servants  and  the  worst  element  of  the 
transported  whites,  called  in  Virginia  "  jail  birds," 
who  Avere  shipped  from  the  cities  of  England,  and 
who  although  as  absolutely  under  the  dominion  of 
their  masters  during  the  period  of  servitude  as  the 
slaves  themselves,  yet  in  virtue  of  their  race  poten- 
tiality had  rights  denied  to  the  slaves,  and  possessed 


112  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

the  future,  if  not  the  present.  I  Next  were  the  small 
farmers  and  new-comers  of  modest  means,  who  were 
continually  increasing  in  numbers  and  who  were 
ever  striving  to  rise,  and  some  of  them  success- 
fully, in  the  social  scale.  Finally,  over  all  was  the 
upper  class :  the  large  planters  and  shippers,  who 
owned  extensive  lands  and  many  slaves;  lived  in 
the  style  of  country  gentlemen  of  means ;  jealously 
guarded  their  privileges,  and  as  counsellors,  com- 
missioners, and  colonels  managed  the  colony  as  if 
it  had  been  their  private  estate. 

"There  is  a  greater  distinction  supported  be- 
tween the  different  classes  of  life  here  than  perhaps 
Jin  any  of  the  rest  of  the  colonies,"  says  the  Eng- 
lish traveller,  Smythe,  "nor  does  that  spirit  of 
equality  and  levelling  principle  which  pervades 
the  greater  part  of  America  prevail  to  such  an 
extent  in  Virginia. 

"  However,  there  appear  to  be  but  three  degrees 
of  rank  amongst  all  the  inhabitants  exclusive  of 
the  negroes. 

"The  first  consists  of  gentlemen  of  the  best 
families  and  fortunes  of  the  colony,  who  are  here 
much  more  respectable  and  numerous  than  in  any 
other  province  in  America.  These,  in  general,  have 
had  a  liberal  education,  possess  enlightened  under- 
standings, and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  world, 
that  furnishes  them  with  an  ease  and  freedom  of 
manners  and  conversation  highly  to  their  advan- 
tage in  exterior,  which  no  vicissitude  of  fortune  or 


LIFE   IN   COLONIAL  VIRGINIA  113 

place  can  divest  them  of ;  they  being  actually, 
according  to  my  ideas,  the  most  agreeable  and  best 
companions,  friends,  and  neighbors  that  need  be 
desired. 

"The  greater  number  of  them  keep  their  car- 
riages and  have  handsome  services  of  plate ;  but 
they  all  without  exception  have  studs,  as  well  as 
sets  of  elegant  and  beautiful  horses. 

"  Those  of  the  second  degree  in  rank  are  very 
numerous,  being  perhaps  half  the  inhabitants,  and 
consist  of  such  a  variety,  singularity,  and  mixture 
of  characters  that  the  exact  general  criterion  and 
leading  feature  can  scarcely  be  ascertained. 

"  However,  they  are  generous,  friendly,  and  hos- 
pitable in  the  extreme;  but  mixed  with  such  an 
appearance  of  rudeness,  ferocity,  and  haughtiness, 
which  is  in  fact  only  a  want  of  polish,  occasioned 
by  their  deficiencies  in  education  and  a  knowledge 
of  mankind,  as  well  as  by  their  general  intercourse 
with  slaves." 

Many  of  these  possessed  fortunes  superior  to 
some  of  the  first  rank,  "  but "  says  Smythe,  "  their 
families  are  not  so  ancient  nor  respectable ;  a  cir- 
cumstance here  held  in  some  estimation. 

"They  are  all,"  he  adds,  "excessively  attached 
to  every  species  of  sport,  gaming,  and  dissipation, 
particularly  horse-racing,  and  that  most  barbarous 
of  all  diversions,  that  peculiar  species  of  cruelty, 
cock-fighting.  .  .  . 

"Numbers  of  them  are  truly  valuable  members  of 


114  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

society,  and  few  or  none  deficient  in  the  excellen- 
cies of  the  intellectual  faculties,  and  a  natural 
genius  which  though  in  a  great  measure  unim- 
proved, is  generally  bright  and  splendid  in  an  un- 
common degree. 

"The  third,  or  lower  class  of  the  people  (who 
ever  compose  the  bulk  of  mankind),  are  in  Virginia 
more  few  in  number  in  proportion  to  the  rest  of 
the  inhabitants  than  perhaps  in  any  other  country 
in  the  Universe.  Even  these  are  kind,  hospitable, 
and  generous ;  yet  illiberal,  noisy,  and  rude.  They 
are  much  addicted  to  inebriety,  and  averse  to 
labor. 

"They  are  likewise  overburdened  with  an  im- 
pertinent and  insuperable  curiosity,  that  renders 
them  peculiarly  disagreeable  and  troublesome  to 
strangers." 

This  is  a  strong  indictment  against  "the  third 
or  lower  class  "  to  whom  it  is  confined  in  Virginia, 
but  our  traveller  seems  not  to  have  found  this  pecul- 
iar to  the  Virginia  poor  whites,  for  he  immediately 
adds  : 

"  Yet  these  undesirable  qualities  they  possess 
by  no  means  in  an  equal  degree  with  the  gener- 
ality of  the  inhabitants  of  New  England,  whose  re- 
ligion and  government  have  encouraged,  and  indeed 
instituted  and  established,  a  kind  of  inquisition  of 
forward  impertinence  and  prying  intrusion  against 
every  person  that  may  be  compelled  to  pass  through 
that  troublesome,  illiberal  country ;  from  which 


LIFE   IN   COLONIAL   V111GIN1A  115 

description,  however,  there  are  no  doubt  many 
exceptions." 

On  the  whole,  this  is  apparently  not  an  inaccu- 
rate analysis  of  the  character  of  the  good  people  of 
Virginia  at  that  time,  as  they  lived  their  easy, 
contented,  careless  lives  on  their  plantations  or 
farms,  in  their  orchard-embowered  homes.  The 
slaves  were  multiplying  rapidly.  The  laws  de- 
vised to  regulate  them  may  appear  to  this  humani- 
tarian generation  very  harsh,  but  most  of  them  were 
savages  fresh  from  the  wilds  of  Africa;  and,  at  least, 
the  laws  were  no  severer  than  those  enacted  in 
Massachusetts  and  other  colonies.  In  practical 
operation  this  severity  was  tempered  by  the  friend- 
liness which  sprang  up  between  the  slaves  and 
their  masters,  the  relation  between  them  invariably 
becoming  a  sort  of  feudal  one,  and  the  slaves  living 
happy  and  contented  lives.  This  appears  to  have 
been  a  continual  •  puzzle  to  the  outsiders  who 
visited  the  colony.  Srnythe,  the  same  traveller 
quoted,  after  speaking  with  astonishment  of  the 
laws  provided  for  their  regulation,  and  expressing 
great  commiseration  over  their  condition,  declares : 

"Yet  notwithstanding  this  degraded  situation, 
and  rigid  severity  to  which  fate  has  subjected  this 
wretched  race,  they  are  certainly  devoid  of  care,  and 
actually  appear  jovial,  contented,  and  happy." 

He  can  scarcely  credit  his  senses ;  he  records 
with  astonishment  the  fact  that  after  the  "severe 
labor"  which  he  asserts  continues  for  "some 


116  THE   OLD  SOUTH 

hours  "  after  dusk,  "  instead  of  retiring  to  rest  as 
might  naturally  be  concluded  he  would  be  glad  to 
do,  he  generally  sets  out  from  home,  and  walks  six 
or  seven  miles  in  the  night,  be  the  weather  ever  so 
sultry,  to  a  negroe  dance  in  which  he  performs  with 
astonishing  agility,  and  the  most  vigorous  exer- 
tions, keeping  time  and  cadence  most  exactly,  with 
the  music  of  the  banjor,  a  large  hollow  instru- 
ment with  three  strings,  and  a  quaqua  (somewhat 
resembling  a  drum),  until  he  exhausts  himself, 
and  has  scarcely  time  or  strength  to  return  home 
before  the  time  he  is  called  forth  to  toil  next 
morning." 

All  his  pity  for  the  negroes,  however,  did  not 
prevent  his  purchasing  one  for  forty  pounds,  along 
with  two  horses  to  continue  his  journey  to  North 
Carolina.  In  view  of  his  abhorrence  of  slavery,  it 
would  be  interesting  to  know  what  became  of  this 
boy  afterwards. 

Slavery  in  any  form  shocks  the  sensibilities  of 
this  age ;  but  surely  this  banjo-playing  life  was  not 
so  dreadful  a  lot  for  those  just  rescued  from  the 
cannibalism  of  the  Congo. 

The  relation  between  the  poor  whites  and  the 
upper  classes  was  not  so  intimate  as  that  between 
the  slaves  and  their  masters,  and  the  former  lived 
very  much  as  the  lower  peasantry  do  in  all  coun- 
tries, standing  somewhat  in  the  relation  of  retain- 
ers of  or  dependents  on  the  planter  class. 

The  distinction  between  the  middle  class,  or  small 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  117 

farmers,  and  the  wealthier  planters  was  very  clearly 
marked  up  to  the  Revolution,  at  which  time  the 
diffusion  of  the  planter  families  had  greatly  in- 
creased the  number  of  lesser  planters  of  good 
family  connection,  and  the  common  defence  of 
the  country  opened  the  path  of  distinction  to  all, 
irrespective  of  social  station. 

The  planters  lived  in  a  style  patterned  on  that 
of  the  landed  gentry  in  England,  maintaining  large 
establishments  on  their  plantations,  surrounded  by 
slaves  and  servants,  dispensing  a  prodigal  hospital- 
ity, wearing  silks  and  velvets  imported  from  abroad, 
expending  their  incomes,  and  often  more  than  their 
incomes,  engaging  in  horse-racing  and  other  gentle 
diversions,  and  generally  arrogating  to  themselves 
all  the  privileges  of  an  exclusive  upper  class.  "  At 
the  governor's  house  upon  birth  nights  and  at 
balls  and  assemblies,"  says  the  Rev.  Hugh  Jones 
in  his  "  Present  State  of  Virginia,"  "  I  have  seen  as 
fine  an  appearance,  as  good  diversion,  and  as  splen- 
did entertainment  in  Governor  Spotswood's  time  as 
I  have  seen  anywhere  else." 

They  built  churches,  reserving  pews  in  the  chan-N. 
eels  or  galleries  like  the  Lords  of  the  Manors  in  Eng- 
land. The  Carters  built  a  church  at  Corotoman,  and 
the  congregation  waited  respectfully  outside  till  the 
family  arrived  and  entered,  when  they  followed  them 
in.  The  Wormleys,  the  Grymeses,  the  Churchills, 
and  the  Berkeleys  built  an  addition  to  the  church 
in  Middlesex  for  their  exclusive  use.  Mr.  Matthew 


118  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

Kemp,  as  church  warden,  received  the  commenda- 
tion of  the  vestry  in  the  same  county  for  displac- 
ing an  unworthy  woman  who  insisted  on  taking  a 
pew  above  her  degree. 

One  old  grand  dame  at  her  death  had  herself 
buried  under  the  transept  used  by  the  poor,  that 
in  punishment  for  her  pride  they  might  trample 
upon  her  grave. 

The  mansions  of  this  class  were  generally  set 
back  in  groves  of  forest  trees  upon  the  heights 
overlooking  the  rivers,  and  were  heavy  and  roomy 
brick  structures  flanked  by  "offices."  They  were 
substantial  rather  than  showy,  though  their  very 
simplicity  was  often  impressive.  Many  specimens 
of  the  kind  still  remain,  though  in  a  state  of  sad 
decay,  on  the  James,  the  York,  and  the  Rappahan- 
nock  rivers,  f  The  houses  of  the  middle  classes  were 
generally  of  wood. 

Here  are  bits  of  description  from  Smythe's 
«  Travels." 

x  "  On  the  6th,"  he  says,  "  the  ship  weighed  anchor 
and  proceeded  up  James  River.  .  .  .  After  pass- 
ing a  great  number  of  most  charming  situations  on 
each  side  of  this  beautiful  river,  we  came  to  anchor. 

"The  principal  situations  that  commanded  my 
notice  and  admiration  were  Shirley  Hundred,  a 
seat  of  Charles  Carter,  Esq.,  at  present  in  the  occu- 
pation of  Mr.  Bowler  Cock;  this  is,  indeed,  a 
charming  place;  the  buildings  are  of  brick,  large, 
convenient,  and  expensive,  but  now  falling  to  de- 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  119 

cay;  they  were  erected  at  a  great  charge  by  Mr. 
Carter's  father,  who  was  secretary  of  the  colony, 
and  this  was  his  favorite  seat  of  residence.  The 
present  proprietor  has  a  most  opulent  fortune,  and 
possesses  such  a  variety  of  seats  in  situations  so 
extremely  delightful,  that  he  overlooks  this  sweet 
one  of  Shirley  and  suffers  it  to  fall  into  ruin, 
although  the  buildings  must  have  cost  an  immense 
sum  in  constructing,  and  would  certainly  be  expen- 
sive to  keep  in  repair."  Arrived  at  the  Falls  where 
now  stands  Richmond,  then  a  collection  of  small  vil- 
lages, he,  after  speaking  of  its  situation,  bursts  forth, 
filled  with  admiration  at  the  beauty  of  the  land  : 

"Whilst  the  mind  is  filled  with  astonishment 
and  novel  objects,  all  the  senses  are  gratified. 

"  The  flowering  shrubs  which  overspread  the 
land  regale  the  smell  with  odoriferous  perfumes ; 
and  fruits  of  exquisite  relish  and  flavor  delight  the 
taste  and  afford  a  most  grateful  refreshment." 

As  the  tide  of  settlement  rolled  westward,  sim- 
ple wooden  houses  were  often  built  by  the  slaves, 
of  timber,  cut  and  sawed  by  hand  upon  the  place, 
to  which  wings  were  added  for  convenience,  as  the 
family  increased.  There  was  not  generally  much 
display  in  the  buildings  themselves,  the  extrava- 
gance being  reserved  for  the  cheer  dispensed  within. 
The  furniture,  however,  was  often  elaborate  and 
handsome,  being  imported  from  England,  and  gen- 
erally of  the  finest  wood,  such  as  mahogany  and 
rosewood.  Chariots  and  four  were  the  ordinary 


120  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

mode  of  travel,  the  difficulties  of  country  roads 
giving  the  gentry  a  reasonable  excuse  for  gratify- 
ing their  pride  in  this  respect. 

Their  love  of  fine  horses  very  early  displayed 
itself,  and  laws  were  enacted  at  an  early  time  for 
improving  the  strain  of  their  blood  in  Virginia; 
"They  are  such  lovers  of  riding,"  says  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Jones,  in  Ids  "Present  State  of  Virginia," 
"that  almost  every  ordinary  person  keeps  a 
horse,  and  I  have  known  some  spend  the  morning 
in  ranging  several  miles  in  the  woods  to  find  and 
catch  their  horses  only  to  ride  two  or  three  miles 
to  church,  to  the  court-house,  or  to  a  horse-race." 

"The  horses  are  fleet  and  beautiful,"  says  Bur- 
naby,  "and  the  gentlemen  of  Virginia,  who  are 
exceedingly  fond  of  horse-racing,  have  spared  no 
expense  or  trouble  to  improve  the  breed  of  these 
by  importing  great  numbers  from  England." 

Each  spring  and  fall  there  were  races  at  Wil- 
liamsburg,  where  two,  three,  and  four  mile  heats 
were  run  for  purses  as  high  as  a  hundred  pounds, 
besides  matches  and  sweepstakes  for  considerable 
sums,  "  the  inhabitants  almost  to  a  man  being  quite 
devoted  to  the  diversion  of  horse-racing."  "  Very 
capital  horses  are  started  here,"  says  the  traveller 
Smythe,  "  such  as  would  make  no  despicable  figure 
at  Newmarket ;  nor  is  their  speed,  bottom,  or  blood 
inferior  to  their  appearance,  the  gentlemen  of  Vir- 
ginia sparing  no  pains,  trouble,  or  expense  in  im- 
porting the  best  stock  and  improving  the  excellence 


LIFE  IS   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  121 

of  the  breed  by  proper  and  judicious  crossing. 
Indeed  nothing  can  be  more  elegant  and  beautiful 
than  the  horses  bred  here,  either  for  the  turf,  the 
field,  the  road,  or  the  coach." 

"  Virginians,"  he  adds,  "  of  all  ranks  and  denom- 
inations are  excessively  fond  of  horses  and  espe- 
cially those  of  the  race  bree/i.  The  gentlemen  of 
forlcmu  Uxpend  great  sums  on  their  studs,  generally 
keeping  handsome  carriages  and  several  sets  of 
horses,  as  well  as  others  for  the  race  and  road ; 
even  the  most  indigent  person  has  his  saddle  horse 
which  he  rides  to  every  place  and  on  every  occasion ; 
for  in  this  country  nobody  walks  on  foot  the  small- 
est distance  except  when  hunting."  He,  too,  ob- 
serves that  "  a  man  will  frequently  go  five  miles  to 
catch  a  horse,  to  ride  only  one  mile  upon  after- 
wards." 

The  traveller  knew  something  of  Virginia  life. 

The  Kev.  Andrew  Burnaby,  rector  of  Greenwich, 
where  he  confines  himself  to  what  he  saw,  is 
picturesque  and  reliable ;  when  he  does  not,  he 
is  simply  picturesque.  Virginians  struck  him 
as  "  indolent1  easy,  and  good-natured,  extremely 
fond  of  society,  and  much  given  to  convivial  plea? 
ures."  In  consequence  of  this,  charges  "BufllUUy, 
***!ihey  seldom  shn^y  any  s/pirit  of  epLuriTrise  or 
expose  themselves  to  fatigue."  They  were,  he 
thought,  "  vain  and  imperious  and  entire  strangers 
to  that  elegance  ot  sentiment  which  is  so  peculiarly 
characteristic  ot  rerined  and  polished  nations."  /He 


122  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

has  the  grace  to  admit  that  "  general  characters  are 
always  liable  to  many  exceptions.  In  Virginia  I 
have  had  the  pleasure  to  know  several  gentlemen 
adorned  with  many  virtues  and  accomplishments 
to  whom  the  following  description  is  by  no  means 
applicable." 

As  to  this  absence  of  refined  feeling,  we  shall  see 
presently. 

"  The  public  or  political  character  of  the  Vir- 

V      ginians,"  he  says,  "corresponds  with  their  private 

}     one;   they  are  haughty  and  jealous  of  their  liber- 

ties,  impatient  ol  restraint,  and  can  scarcely  bear 

J         the~T;nougnt  of   being  controlled  by  any  superior 

power.  ^IVlany  nt  tnem  cnntdfltVf.Rfl  Anlnnips  as  inrle- 

—  pendent  States,  not  connected  with  Great  Britain, 

otherwise  than  by  having  the  same  common  King, 

and  being  bound  to  her  with  natural  affection." 

Perhaps  this  independence  was  not  agreeable  to 

the  reverend  rector  of  Greenwich's  loyal  instincts. 

He  was  not  so  accurate  in  his  observations  on  the 

/^  private  character  of  the  Virginians  as  on  their  polit- 

/    ical.    He  noted  that  they  never  refuse  any  necessary 

supplies  for  the  support  of  the  government  when 

V    called  upon,  and  are  a  generous  and  loyal  people. 

Here  is  what  he  says  of  the  Virginia  women  : 
"  The  women  are,  upon  the  whole,  rather  handsome, 
but  not  to  be  compared  with  our  fair  country  women 
in  England.  [He  was  writing  for  publication  in 
England.]  They  have  but  few  advantages  and  con- 
sequently are  seldom  accomplished;  this  makes 


LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  VIRGINIA  123 

them  reserved  and  unequal  to  any  interesting  and 
refined  conversation.  They  are  immoderately  fond 
of  dancing,  and  indeed  it  is  almost  the  only  amuse- 
nienF~tn"ey  partake  of."  He  then  describes  the- 
country  dances  and  "jijjs"  they  dance,  which  may 
give  an  idea  of  the  society  in  which  he  generally 
moved. 

(The  Eev.  Hugh  Jones  in  his  "Present  State  of 
Virginia"  sufficiently  discriminates  the  two  classes 
of  society  with  their  diversions  to  show  that  al- 
though the  English  traveller  mentioned  may  have 
occasionally  been  entertained  at  a  gentleman's 
house,  yet  the  people  whom  he  described  belonged 
unquestionably  to  the  second  class.) 

"  The  Virginia  ladies,"  he  proceeds,  "  excepting 
these  amusements  and  now  and  then  a  party  of 
pleasure  into  the  woods  to  partake  of  a  barbecue, 
chiefly  spend  their  time  in  sewing  and  taking  care 
of  their  families.  They  seldom  read  or  endeavor 
to  improve  their  minds ;  however,  they  are  in  gen- 
eral good  housewives,  and  though  they  have  not,  I 
think,  quite  as  much  tenderness  and  sensibility  as 
the  English  ladies,  yet  they  make  as  good  wives 
and  as  good  mothers  as  any  in  the  world." 

It  is  surprising  that  he  should  have  passed  so 
general  a  stricture  on  the  lack  of  enterprise  of  the 
Virginians,  for  he  records  the  famous  feat  of  Wash- 
ington in  going  with  a  single  companion  to  the 
"  Ohio  Kiver "  with  letters  to  the  French  com- 
mander, M.  St.  Pierre,  in  1753,  but  a  few  years 


124  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

before,  and  he  certainly  did  not  underestimate  the 
act. 

The  distance  was  more  than  four  hundred  miles, 
two  hundred  of  which  lay  through  a  trackless  forest 
inhabited  by  treacherous  and  merciless  savages,  and 
the  season  was  unusually  severe. 

It  was  less  than  fifteen  years  after  this  that  these 
Virginians,  with  a  mightiness  of  enterprise  which 
must  have  shaken  the  reverend  traveller's  confi- 
dence in  his  judgment,  helped  to  build  a  nation  and 
tear  from  England  the  richest  possession  any  coun- 
try ever  owned. 

The  hospitality  of  the  good  people  of  the  colony 
early  became  noted,  and  its  exercise  was  so  un- 
stinted, so  universal,  so  cordial,  that  it  has  acquired 
for  itself  the  honor  of  a  special  designation,  and, 
the  world  over,  has  set  the  standard  as  "  Virginia 
hospitality." 

"  They  shall  be  reputed  to  entertain  those  of 
curtesie  with  whom  they  make  not  a  certaine 
agreement,"  says  the  old  Statute  of  1661-62  (Hen. 
1661-62,  1667). 

Here  is  what  the  traveller  Smythe  says  of  his 
experience  in  this  regard :  "  The  Virginians  are 
generous,  extremely  hospitable,  and  possess  very 
liberal  sentiments.  ...  To  communicate  an  idea 
of  the  general  hospitality  that  prevails  in  Virginia, 
and,  indeed,  throughout  all  the  Southern  provinces, 
it  may  not  be  improper  to  represent  some  peculiar 
customs  that  are  universal;  for  instance  : 


X 

LIFE  IN  COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  125 

"  If  a  traveller,  even  a  negro,  observes  an  orchard 
full  of  fine  fruit,  either  apples  or  peaches,  in  or  near 
his  way,  he  alights  without  ceremony,  and  fills  his 
pockets,  or  even  a  bag,  if  he  has  one,  without  asking 
permission ;  and  if  the  proprietor  should  see  him,  he 
is  not  in  the  least  offended,  but  makes  him  perfectly 
welcome,  and  assists  him  in  choosing  out  the  finest 
fruit."  He  explains  that  this  was  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  as  fruit  was  so  plentiful  that  peaches  were 
fed  to  the  hogs  ;  and  proceeds  :  "When  a  person  of 
more  genteel  figure  than  common  calls  at  an  ordi- 
nary (the  name  of  their  inns),  for  refreshment 
and  lodging  for  a  night,  as  soon  as  any  of  the  gen- 
tlemen of  fortune  in  the  neighborhood  hears  of  it, 
he  either  comes  for  him  himself,  or  sends  him  a  polite 
and  pressing  invitation  to  his  home,  where  he  meets 
with  entertainment  and  accommodation  infinitely 
superior  in  every  respect  to  what  he  could  have 
received  at  the  inn.  If  he  should  happen  to  be 
fatigued  with  travelling,  he  is  treated  in  the  most 
hospitable  and  genteel  manner,  and  his  servants 
and  horses  also  fare  plenteously,  for  as  long  a  time 
as  he  chooses  to  stay.  All  this  is  done  with  the 
best  grace  imaginable,  without  even  a  hint  being 
thrown  out  of  a  curiosity  or  wish  to  know  his 
name." 

Are  these  the  people  that  Parson  Burnaby  says 
are  "  entire  strangers  to  that  elegance  of  sentiment 
which  is  so  peculiarly  characteristic  of  refined  and 
polished  nations  "  ? 


126  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

If  you  would  have  a  picture  of  a  country  family 
of  that  time,  here  is  one  by  the  Chevalier  de  Chas- 
tellux  who  was  a  Major-General  under  Rochambeau 
in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  who  wrote  an  ac- 
count of  his  travels  in  Virginia  in  1780—82.  He 
relates  a  visit  he  paid  General  Nelson's  family 
at  Offley,  an  unpretentious  country  place  in  Han- 
over County.  He  says : 

"  In  the  absence  of  the  General  (who  had  gone 
to  Williamsburg)  his  mother  and  wife  received  us 
with  all  the  politeness,  ease,  and  cordiality  natural 
to  his  family.  But,  as  in  America,  the  ladies  are 
never  thought  sufficient  to  do  the  honors  of  the 
house,  five  or  six  Nelsons  were  assembled  to  receive 
us,  among  others :  Secretary  Nelson,  uncle  to  the 
General,  his  two  sons,  and  two  of  the  General's 
brothers.  These  young  men  were  married,  and 
several  of  them  were  accompanied  by  their  wives 
and  children,  and  distinguished  only  by  their  Chris- 
tian names ;  so  that  during  the  two  days  which  I 
spent  in  this  truly  patriarchal  house,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  me  to  find  out  their  degrees  of  relationship. 
The  company  assembled  either  in  the  parlor  or 
saloon,  especially  the  men,  from  the  hour  of  break- 
fast to  that  of  bed-time ;  but  the  conversation  was 
always  agreeable  and  well  supported.  If  you  were 
desirous  of  diversifying  the  scene,  there  were  some 
good  French  and  English  authors  at  hand.  An  ex- 
cellent breakfast  at  nine  o'clock,  a  sumptuous  dinner 
at  two,  tea  and  punch  in  the  afternoon,  and  an  ele- 


LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  VIRGINIA 

gant  little  supper  divided  the  day  most  happily  for 
those  whose  stomachs  were  never  unprepared.  It 
is  worth  observing  that  on  this  occasion,  where  fif- 
teen or  twenty  people  (four  of  whom  were  strangers 
to  the  family  and  the  country)  were  assembled 
together,  and  by  bad  weather  forced  to  stay  often 
in  doors,  not  a  syllable  was  said  about  play.  How 
many  parties  of  trictrac,  whist,  and  lotto  would 
with  us  have  been  the  consequence  of  such  obstinate 
bad  weather  !  "  (Chastellux's  "  Travels.") 

The  observations  of  the  Chevalier  de  Chastellux 
sufficiently  contradict  the  charge  of  the  Greenwich 
preacher  that  Virginia  ladies  were  "  unequal  to  any 
interesting  or  refined  conversation." 

Colonel  Byrd,  with  his  inimitable  drollery,  fur- 
nishes us  bits  of  description  from  which  we  get  pic- 
tures of  almost  every  rank  of  Virginia  life  in  his 
time,  1732  ("Journey  to  the  Mines  ").  He  shows  us 
the  scolding  overseer's  wife ;  the  widow  expectant  ' 
of  a  lover  with  "an  air  becoming  to  a  weed"; 
the  spinster  "bewailing  her  virginity  and  expend- 
ing her  affections  upon  her  dog " ;  the  wife  push- 
ing on  against  all  remonstrance  through  weather 
and  mud  to  join  her  husband  in  the  new  settle- 
ment in  Goochland;  the  family  group  at  Tuck- 
ahoe  listening  to  the  "Beggar's  Opera"  read 
aloud;  we  get  the  tragical  story  "of  the  young 
gentlewoman's  marriage  with  her  uncle's  overseer," 
with  the  Colonel's  reflection  that  "had  she  run 
away  with  a  gentleman  or  a  pretty  fellow  there 


128  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

might  have  been  some  excuse  for  her,  though  he 
were  of  inferior  fortune,  but  to  stoop  to  a  dirty 
plebeian  without  any  kind  of  merit  is  the  lowest 
prostitution  "  ;  we  see  the  elegant  home  of  Colonel 
Spotswood  at  Germana,  surrounded  by  its  garden 
and  terraced  walks,  the  tame  deer  coming  into  the 
house,  smashing  the  pier  glass,  knocking  over  the 
tea-table,  and  committing  havoc  with  the  china, 
and  giving  Mrs.  Spotswood  the  opportunity  to  show 
her  calm  and  beautiful  temper;  the  gentlemen 
walking  in  the  garden  discussing  iron  manufacture 
and  politics;  the  ladies  taking  the  visitor  to  see 
their  "small  animals,"  their  fowls;  the  rides  about 
the  woods ;  the  fine  appetites  and  capital  cheer.  It 
is  a  pleasant  picture. 

As  we  come  down  the  century  the  prospect  sim- 
ply widens;  the  gentry  live  upon  their  great  es- 
tates, working  their  tobacco,  managing  their  slaves 
and  the  affairs  of  the  colony;  breeding  their  fine 
horses,  and  racing  them  in  good  old  English  style ; 
asserting  and  maintaining  their  privileges ;  dispens- 
ing a  lavish  and  lordly  hospitality;  visiting  and 
receiving  visits ;  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage ; 
their  wives  rolling  about  in  their  coaches  and  four, 
dressed  in  satins  and  brocades  brought  in  their  own 
ships  from  London ;  their  daughters  in  fine  raiment, 
often  made  by  their  own  fair  hands  ("  Journal  of  a 
Young  Lady  of  Virginia"),  dancing,  reading,  and 
marrying;  vying  with  their  husbands  and  lovers  in 
patriotism ;  sealing  up  their  tea,  and  giving  up  all 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  129 

silk  from  England  except  for  hats  and  bonnets  (a 
charming  touch) ;  their  sous  going  to  William  and 
Mary  or  across  to  Oxford  or  Cambridge,  and  grow- 
ing up  like  their  sires,  gay,  pleasure-loving,  winning 
and  losing  garters  on  wagers,  jealous  of  privilege, 
proud,  assertive  of  'their  rights,  ready  to  fight  and 
stake  all  on  a  point  of  principle,  and  forming  that 
society  which  was  the  virile  soil  from  which  sprang 
this  nation. 

Here  is  an  "  Inventory  of  Wedding  Clothes  "  of 
one  of  the  daughters  of  the  Nelson  House,  at 
Yorktown : 

A  fashionable  Lushing  Sacque  and  Coat, 

A  rose  white  Satin  Sacque  and  Coat, 

A  fine  suit  of  Mechlin  lace, 

A  fashionable  Lushing  gown, 

A  white  Sattin  Capuchin  and  bonnet, 

A  white  Sattin  quilted  petticoat, 

One  piece  of  purple  and  white  linen, 

One  piece  of  dark  brown  cotton, 

One  piece  of  fine  corded  dimity, 

One  piece  of  Cambrick,  One  piece  ditto  colored, 

Six  fine  lawn  handkerchiefs  with  striped  borders, 

Two  fine  sprigged  lawn  aprons, 

Six  pair  Greshams,  black  Calamanca  pumps, 

Two  pair  green  leather,  two  pair  purple  leather  pumps, 

One  pair  ditto  white  Sattin,  one  pair  ditto  pink, 

One  ditto  white  Sattin  embroidered, 

One  dozen  pair  women's  best  woolen  stockings, 

Two  pair  ditto  white  silk, 

One  dozen  women's  best  French  gloves, 

One  ditto  mitts, 


130  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

One  pound  pins,  one  ditto  short  whites, 

One  pair  tanned  stays, 

One  pound  of  best  Scotch  thread  sorted, 

Six  white  silk  laces,  one  set  of  combs, 

A  fashionable  stomacher  and  knot, 

Two  Ivory  stick  fans, 

A  wax  necklace  and  earrings, 

A  pink  Sattin  quilted  petticoat, 

Two  fashionable  gaus  caps,  one  ditto  blonde  lace. 

The  time-stained  record  does  not  state  who  was 
the  fortunate  lover  of  the  little  lady  who  wanted 
the  "  fashionable  lushing  sacque  and  coat,"  and 
other  "  fashionable "  articles ;  but  I  know  she 
looked  charming  in  her  "  white  sattin  capuchin  and 
bonnet,"  her  "rose  white  sattin  sacque  and  coat," 
and  her  dainty  "white  sattin  embroidered  pumps." 
What  pretty  feet  she  must  have  had  to  have  been 
so  careful  about  her  "  pumps,"  —  thirteen  pair  she 
ordered.  I  wonder  whose  grandmother  she  was  \y^\ 

No  pen  could  do  justice  to  the  fair  bride  of 
the  "  white  sattin  capuchin  and  bonnet " ;  but  here 
is  a  picture  of  a  young  gentleman  of  the  period 
drawn  by  himself  and  furnished  me  by  a  descend- 
ant of  the  gentleman  to  whom  the  letters  were 
addressed.  The  writer  is  Mr.  Peter  Randolph, 
of  Chatsworth,  and  the  letters  are  to  his  friend, 
Mr.  Carr.  They  have  never  before  been  published, 
and  are  worth  giving  in  full. 

DEAR  CARR: — Your  attack  upon  the  barrenness  of  en- 
tertainment which  universally  pervades  James  River,  I 
acknowledge  to  be  supported  by  the  strictest  justice,  .  .  . 


LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  VIRGINIA  131 

Providence  never  formed  a  place  in  which  dulness  and  mel- 
ancholy held  such  extensive  empire  as  on  the  once  festive 
banks  of  James  Biver.  .  .  .  You  mention  that  you  have 
heard  I  was  paying  my  addresses  to  J.  Randolph.  Whoever 
informed  you  that  I  was  actually  laying  siege  to  her  too 
well  defended  castle  did  not  obtain  his  information  from  a 
proper  source.  I  confess  I  most  sincerely  love  her ;  but  I 
am  so  apprehensive  of  a  frown  from  the  terrific  brows  of 
her  old  mother  that  I  am  afraid  to  venture  to  Tuckahoe. 
There  she  is  at  present  and  there  she  will  be  for  some  time. 
However,  even  at  the  expense  of  a  horsewhipping  from  the 
old  beldame,  I  must  shortly  make  a  commencement,  fame 
having  so  universally  spread  my  intentions  that  I  shall  be 
accused  of  fickleness  if  I  do  not  proceed.  Something  tho' 
more  powerful  than  that  would  urge  me  to  the  attack,  viz.  : 
a  most  serious  and  unalterable  attachment.  But  pray,  my 
dear  friend,  where  did  you  obtain  your  information  with 
respect  to  E.  N.  and  what  is  the  purport  of  it?  Who  is 
your  author  ?  By  heaven,  I  still  have  a  sincere  regard  for 
her ;  and  tho'  fettered  by  love  in  another  quarter  cou'd  I 
succeed  with  her,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  losing  either 
prize,  I  wou'd  make  an  attack  upon  her  who  seemed  most 
disposed  to  favour  me.  I  think  it  wou'd  make  a  curious 
question  hi  morals  whether  or  no  love  can  be  at  the  same 
time  real  and  duplicate  ?  It  wou'd  seem  curious  to  support 
the  affirmative,  but  if  I  can  form  any  idea  of  the  feelings  of 
others  by  myself,  if  I  am  not  of  a  mould  and  composition 
entirely  different  from  the  rest  of  my  species,  it  may  be 
supported  with  success.  If  I  were  to  be  this  moment  exe- 
cuted I  do  not  know  which  of  these  two  girls  I  love  most ; 
and  yet  I  declare  for  each  I  have  a  most  violent  fondness. 
With  either  of  them  I  know  I  cou'd  be  perfectly  happy,  and 
with  either  I  shou'd  of  course  be  content.  When  J.  R.  is 
present  I  think  the  scale  of  affection  preponderates  in  her 
favour.  When  E.  N.  is  with  me,  I  feel  a  superior  fondness 


132  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

for  her,  and  when  both  are  absent,  I  cannot  determine  who 
can  justly  claim  the  superiority.  Pray  write  me  by  the 
next  post  every  thing  you  have  heard  relating  to  E.  N.  and 
you  may  depend  on  the  greatest  secrecy  :  also,  your  author 
that  I  may  be  able  to  judge  what  credit  may  be  given  to  his 
report.  Remember  me  to  all  friends  and  as  usual  I  am 

Your  Friend,  PETEB  RANDOLPH. 

This  letter,  though  without  date,  must  have  been 
prior  to  the  one  following ;  for  the  writer  has  evi- 
dently decided  to  try  J.  R.  and  has  even  braved  a 
frown  from  the  terrific  brows  of  the  "old  beldame," 
her  mother.  Here  is  the  other : 

July  28th,  1787. 

DEAR  CARR  :  — The  requisitions  of  a  friend  are  always  to 
me  most  pleasing  commands,  which  whilst  they  carry  with 
them  all  the  force  of  obedience  of  which  the  mandates  of  an 
Eastern  despot  can  boast,  nevertheless  convey  the  most  un- 
feigned satisfaction.  They  are,  to  be  sure,  marks  of  esteem 
and  confidence  which  the  man  who  makes  them  thinks  can  no 
where  be  so  properly  placed  as  in  the  person  of  whom  he  so- 
licits the  favour.  I  really  tho'  was  somewhat  surprised  when 
I  found  your  request  of  the  nature  it  was.  I  did  not  suppose 
there  was  a  man  in  the  world  to  whom  the  history  of  my 
transactions  could  have  afforded  the  smallest  entertainment. 
["Transactions"  is  good.]  To  be  sure  if  originality 
has  any  right  to  attention  many  of  my  adventures  may  lay 
claim  to  it.  But  the  originality  was  of  so  peculiar  a  nature 
that  I  supposed  there  were  but  few  who  could  divine  any  satis- 
faction from  hearing  it.  However,  as  I  have  found  you  of  so 
extraordinary  a  mould  as  to  wish  the  trifling  satisfaction,  as 
you  have  even  particularly  requested  it,  I  shall  conclude 
you  are  one  of  the  few  to  whom  the  originality  of  P.  R.'s 
original  maneuvres  are  pleasing  and  interesting  and  shall 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  133 

therefore  give  you  the  whole  history.  I  set  out  from  Chats- 
worth  on  Monday,  accompanied  by  old  Abraham,  on  my 
way  to  Tuckahoe,  resolved,  if  possible,  to  storm  the  citadel 
hi  which  was  contained  Miss  Judah's  virtue  and  accomplish- 
ments. - 1  first  regulated  my  wardrobe  as  follows  :  I  laid  out 
for  my  first  day's  appearance;  a  thin  and  genteel  riding 
coat  and  waistcoat,  a  pair  of  Xankeen  breeches,  white  stock- 
ings and  a  beautiful  pair  of  half  boots.  This  you  observe 
was  for  the  first  day's  exhibition  when  mounted  on  the 
little  roane  I  appeared  at  the  terrestrial  elysium  Tuckahoe. 
The  next  thing  on  the  docket  was  my  red  coat,  in  all  its 
pristine  effulgence  glittering  in  the  sun  as  if  trimmed  with 
gold.  The  black  silk  breeches  which  you,  Champ,  and  my- 
self got  a  pair  of  ;  a  nice  silk  waistcoat  and  a  pair  of  most 
elegant  white  silk  stockings.  For  the  next,  a  very  elegant 
lead-coloured  coat,  a  pair  of  Nankeen  breeches,  and  very 
fine  cotton  stockings,  with  a  most  elegant  dimmety  waist- 
coat. This,  sir,  was  the  manner  hi  which  my  extensive 
wardrobe  was  to  be  regulated.  At  the  expiration  of  these 
three  days,  as  I  shou'd  have  sho'n  all  my  cloaths  I  imag- 
ined they  wou'd  be  nearly  tired  of  me,  I  proposed  taking 
my  departure.  But  after  having  reached  Richmond,  some 
money  which  I  expected  to  get  there  cou'd  not  be  obtained. 
I  thought  it  most  prudent,  therefore,  to  send  old  Abraham 
on  and  follow  him  in  the  morning.  For  you  know  nothing 
so  soon  signalizes  a  man  as  a  fine  gentleman,  as  being  able 
to  say  to  one  servant,  here,  my  boy,  take  this  dollar  for  the 
trouble  I  have  given  you  since  my  arrival,  and  to  another 
this  half  dollar  and  so  on.  But  to  proceed  with  my  story. 
When  the  morning  arrived  I  found  it  as  impossible  to  obtain 
money  as  I  had  done  the  night  before.  So  I  resolved  to 
depend  altogether  on  my  own  merit  and  go  without.  As  I 
was  going  on  in  full  tilt,  I  met  Colonel  Tom  himself,  who 
persuaded  me  much  to  stay  and  dine  with  him  that  day  at 
Pennock's,  and  take  the  cool  of  the  evening  for  it,  as  it  was 


134  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

then  very  warm.  I  for  some  time  hesitated,  but  considering 
from  whom  the  request  came  I  resolved  to  assent.  I  spent 
a  very  agreeable  day  at  Pennock's,  and  the  evening  coming 
on  apace  I  mounted  my  horse  to  go  but  had  not  proceeded 
far  before  I  was  stopped  by  the  rain.  In  this  dilemma  noth- 
ing cou'd  exceed  my  anxiety.  I  had  sometimes  an  inclina- 
tion to  push  thro'  the  violent  storm,  let  the  consequence 
be  what  it  wou'd ;  for  I  was  afraid  lest  old  Abraham,  who 
had  gone  up  the  night  before  carrying  a  huge  portmanteau 
wou'd  give  me  out  and  return.  My  prognostication  proved 
too  true.  Early  in  the  morning  on  which  I  intended  to  set 
out,  who  shou'd  I  see  pacing  into  town  but  the  old  fellow 
with  his  portmanteau.  Nothing  cou'd  now  exceed  my  dis- 
tress. I  hated  not  to  go,  and  still  feared  to  set  out  for 
Tuckahoe.  However,  I  changed  my  cloaths,  dressed  very 
genteelly,  and  resolved  to  set  out  unaccompanied  by  a  ser- 
vant. Doctr.  Currie  happened  to  be  going  up  to  visit  Mrs. 
Randolph  and  we  both  pushed  off  together.  After  an  agree- 
able ride  we  at  length  reached  the  house  about  2  o'clock, 
just  about  the  time  when  Miss  J.'s  beauty  was  in  its  merid- 
ian splendor.  We  found  her  doing  the  honours  of  the  table 
with  the  most  ineffable  sweetness  and  grace.  She  rose  as 
we  entered  to  salute  us.  She  rose  !  heavens  with  what  an- 
gelic majesty  tempered  with  all  that  sweetness  and  modesty 
of  which  human  nature  in  its  most  perfect  state  is  capable. 
If,  Carr,  you  have  never  known  the  force  of  beauty.  If  you 
have  been  never  warmed  by  the  genial  influence  of  love  and 
are  anxious  not  to  experience  its  powerful  effects  until  you 
have  seen  the  sun  of  several  years  more,  you  may  account 
yourself  fortunate  that  you  were  not  present  at  this  interest- 
ing and  commanding  moment.  The  coldest  anchorite  who 
had  not  for  20  years  before  been  agitated  by  the  sudden  im- 
pulse of  any  human  passion,  whose  heart  was  formed  of  such 
insensible  materials  that  his  joy  had  never  curdled  at  an- 
other's woe,  who  had  not  once  in  his  whole  life  experienced 


LIFE  IN  COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  135 

the  magic  influence  of  a  beautiful  woman  on  the  human 
soul,  wou'd  on  this  occasion  have  found  that  the  ice  of 
nature  was  converted  into  heat,  and  that  he  himself  was 
re-animated  into  something  more  similar  to  the  genius  and 
disposition  of  a  son  of  Adam.  As  she  spoke  to  me  a  small 
border  of  red,  occasioned  by  the  blush  of  ingenuous  mod- 
esty, tinged  her  lovely  face,  which  opposed  to  the  snowy 
whiteness  of  her  skin  formed  an  enchanting  spectacle  not 
much  inferior  to  that  which  is  exhibited  in  the  eastern  sky, 
just  at  the  moment  when  aurora  is  about  to  dispense  the 
beams  of  her  effulgence  to  the  whole  animate  world.  For 
my  part,  I  own  I  was  transported  with  rapture,  especially 
as  I  thought  myself  the  cause  of  her  making  so  lovely  an 
appearance.  What  her  blushes  proceeded  from  I  cannot 
tell,  unless  it  was  the  eyes  of  the  whole  household  fixing 
upon  us  two  since  every  member  of  the  family  knew  my 
attachment  to  her  and  conceived  I  had  come  with  determi- 
nation to  pay  my  addresses  to  her.  Be  that  as  it  may,  I  sat 
down  to  dinner  but  cou'd  scarcely  swallow  a  mouthful.  My 
hand  trembled,  my  heart  palpitated  and  my  eyes  too  well 
evinced  my  internal  commotion.  After  dinner  we  assem- 
bled in  the  hall  where  the  sweet  Judah  favored  us  with  a 
good  deal  of  her  incomparable  musick.  She  played  as  if  she 
had  been  inspired  by  some  deity  of  musick,  and  tho'  excel- 
ling in  so  peculiar  a  manner,  seemed  to  do  it  with  a  mod- 
esty which  appeared  to  indicate  an  opinion  of  her  own 
deficiency  which  few  so  eminent  as  herself  wou'd  have 
thought  they  possessed.  Thus  my  friend,  have  I  en- 
deavoured as  circumstantially  as  possible  to  give  you  an 
account  of  my  visit  to  the  most  perfect  of  her  sex.  In  doing 
this  I  think  I  have  said  enough  of  her  to  enable  you  to  form 
a  proper  idea  of  her  worth.  Shou'd  you  have  been  unfortu- 
nate enough  not  to  have  attained  this  knowledge,  believe  me 
when  I  tell  you  in  plain  words ;  She  is  beautiful,  sensible, 
affable,  polite,  good-tempered,  agreeable  and  to  crown  the 


136  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

whole,  truly  calculated  both  by  her  virtues  and  accomplish- 
ments to  render  any  man  happy. 

Your  friend,  PETER  S.  RANDOLPH. 

[This  admirable  summing  up  of  his  ladylove's 
virtues  shows  that  the  young  coxcomb  was  at  bot- 
tom a  very  sensible  fellow.] 

N.B. — If  I  can  get  the  Nankeen  for  you  I  will,  and 
have  it  made  by  Bob  who,  I  assure  you,  will  make  it  better 
and  cheaper  than  any  Taylor  down  there.  Get  your  meas- 
ure and  inclose  it  to  me  and  the  breeches  shall  be  done  as 
quick  as  possible. 

With  true  wit  he  gives  not  a  hint  of  the  outcome 
of  his  expedition. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolution  there  came  a 
period  in  which  the  conditions  were  somewhat 
changed.  The  rights  for  which  the  colonies  had 
contended  had  been  recognized ;  independence  had 
been  secured ;  success,  full  and  satisfying,  had  been 
achieved.  Much  military  renown  had  been  won. 
Meantime,  the  government  of  the  States  had  been 
formed  and  established  on  a  basis  which  satisfied 
the  thoughtfulness  and  high-mindedness  of  the 
constructors.  But  all  this  was  not  without  cost. 

The  great  fortunes  had  melted  away  in  the  patri- 
otic fervor  of  the  owners.  The  men  who  made 
the  war  and  won  it  paid  for  it.  George  Mason  had 
found  his  wish  gratified  j  he  had  got  the  liberty  for 
which  he  had  striven,  and  with  it  had  got  also  the 
crust  of  bread  with  which  he  had  promised  to  be 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL   VIRGINIA  137 

contented.  The  wealthiest  man  in  Virginia,  Thomas 
Kelson,  Jr.,  who  had  been  the  Revolutionary  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  and  the  commander-in-chief  of 
her  forces,  leading  them  in  person,  and  at  Yorktown 
pointing  the  guns  at  his  own  mansion,  had  pledged 
his  entire  private  fortune  for  the  pay  of  the  troops, 
and  had  afterwards,  in  his  seat  as  a  Virginia  rep- 
resentative, upon  a  motion  to  repudiate  British 
claims,  sworn  that  others  might  do  as  they  pleased, 
but  as  for  him,  so  help  him  God,  he  would  pay  his 
debts  like  an  honest  man.  This  he  had  done.  When 
he  died,  on  one  of  his  outlying  places,  of  exposure 
and  overwork,  it  is  tradition  that  his  body  was  con- 
veyed away  in  the  night  and  carried  to  his  home  to 
avoid  the  danger  of  having  it  seized  by  rapacious 
creditors.  His  widow,  formerly  the  wealthiest 
woman  in  Virginia,  was  left  in  her  old  age  with  but 
one  piece  of  property,  her  children's  mammy. 
Other  fortunes  had  gone  likewise. 

The  stern  demands  of  war  had  welded  the  dif- 
ferent elements  into  an  extraordinarily  homogeneous 
people.  The  sudden  creation  of  a  new  government 
which  was  participated  in  by  all  and  had  done 
away  with  privilege,  had  given  every  one  a  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  State.  At  the  same  time  the 
methods  of  life  of  those  who  had  been  the  leaders 
had  given  the  standard,  and  whether  it  was  in  the 
Tidewater  or  Piedmont,  in  the  valley  or  beyond 
the  mountain,  land-holding  in  considerable  quan- 
tity, and  planter  life  in  its  carelessness  and  lavish- 
ness,  became  the  style  in  vogue. 


138  THE   OLD  SOUTH 

The  new  order  found  the  Virginian  established 
in  his  habits  and  exhibiting  in  his  life  a  distinctive 
civilization  with  which  he  was  entirely  content  and 
which  he  proposed  to  preserve  and  transmit  to  his 
children. 

There  was  naturally  the  destruction  of  the  equi- 
poise which  always  succeeds  war ;  the  impairment 
of  values,  the  change  in  the  relation  of  things,  which 
is  the  consequence  of  such  a  convulsion ;  the  great 
fortunes  went  to  pieces  in  the  storm  and  left  only 
the  debris,  to  which  the  owners  clung  till  they,  too, 
wera  swept  away  by  the  currents.  But  if  the  Vir- 
ginians came  out  of  the  war  broken  in  fortune, 
they  had  gained  an  accession  of  spirit.  What  they 
had  lost  in  wealth  they  had  more  than  gained  in 
pride.  The  fire  of  the  seven  years'  struggle  had 
tried  their  metal  and  proved  its  quality.  The 
glory  of  the  victory  was  in  large  part  theirs.  Their 
sons  had  behaved  with  gallantry  on  every  field. 
A  Virginian  had  become  the  personification  of  Amer- 
ican valor  and  success.  Victory  seemed  embodied 
iu  George  Washington.  The  mighty  men  were  yet 
in  the  prime  of  their  intellectual  vigor ;  they  had 
sprung  suddenly  from  subjects  fighting  for  their 
rights,  to  peers  owning  no  superiors,  to  law-makers 
knowing  no  laws  but  those  which  they  framed.  If 
they  were  proud  they  were  likewise  great.  What 
they  did  was  on  a  grand  scale.  To  aid  the  country 
she  had  preserved ;  to  establish  the  United  States 
which  without  her  could  not  have  been,  the  great 


LIFE  IN   COLONIAL    VIRGINIA  139 

State  changed  her  government,  surrendered  her  in- 
comparable position,  and  with  a  splendid  generosity 
which  was  little  appreciated  and  ill  requited,  ceded 
her  vast  transmontane  possessions.  She  continued  to 
maintain  her  prestige.  In  all  public  matters  her  sons 
continued  to  take  the  lead.  President  after  presi- 
dent was  chosen  from  among  them.  Her  Marshall 
was  selected  to  preside  over  the  highest  tribu- 
nal of  the  land  as  chief  justice,  and  by  the  extraor- 
dinary powers  which  he  displayed  at  once  took 
place  amongst  the  great  judges  of  the  world.  She 
had  already  taken  her  position  as  the  greatest 
colonizer  of  modern  times.  Kentucky  beyond  the 
mountains  was  really  but  her  western  district,  set- 
tled by  her  sons,  who  had  planted  there  Virginian 
homes  and  established  in  them  the  Virginian  faith 
and  customs. 

But  her  sons  had  also  gone  elsewhere ;  South  and 
West  they  turned  their  faces,  carrying  their  Vir- 
ginian blood  and  social  life,  and  planting  wherever 
they  settled  a  little  Virginian  colony  which  gave 
to  that  place  something  of  the  Virginia  spirit. 

A  traveller  sailing  to  Virginia,  records  that  when 
two  days  from  the  coast,  "  the  air  was  richly  scented 
with  the  fragrance  of  the  pine  trees,  wafted  to 
them  across  the  sea."  In  the  same  way,  far  beyond 
her  borders  was  felt  the  Virginian  influence  sweet- 
ening and  purifying  the  life  of  the  people. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   IN   OLD   VIRGINIA 
BEFORE   THE  WAR 


SOCIAL  LIFE   IN   OLD  VIRGINIA 
BEFORE  THE  WAR 

LET  me  see  if  I  can  describe  an  old  Virginia 
home  recalled  from  a  memory  stamped  with  it 
when  it  was  a  virgin  page.  It  may,  perhaps,  be 
idealized  by  the  haze  of  time ;  but  it  will  be  as  I 
now  remember  it. 

The  house  was  a  plain  "weather-board"  build- 
ing, one  story  and  a  half  above  the  half -basement 
ground  floor,  set  on  a  hill  in  a  grove  of  primeval 
oaks  and  hickories  filled  in  with  ash,  maples,  and 
feathery-leafed  locusts  without  number.  It  was 
built  of  timber  cut  by  the  "  servants  "  (they  were 
never  termed  slaves  except  in  legal  documents  ) 
out  of  the  virgin  forest,  not  long  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  that  branch  of  the  family  moved  from 
Yorktown.  It  had  quaint  dormer  windows,  with 
small  panes,  poking  out  from  its  sloping  upstairs 
rooms,  and  long  porches  to  shelter  its  walls  from 
the  sun  and  allow  huuse  life  in  the  open  air. 

A  number  of  magnificent  oaks  and  hickories 
(there  had  originally  been  a  dozen  of  the  former, 
and  the  place  from  them  took  its  name,  "Oakland,") 

143 


144  THE   OLD  SOUTH 

under  which  Totapottamoi  children  may  have 
played,  spread  their  long  arms  about  it,  sheltering 
nearly  a  half -acre  apiece ;  while  in  among  them  and 
all  around  were  a  few  ash  and  maples,  an  evergreen 
or  two,  lilacs  and  syringas  and  roses,  and  locusts  of 
every  age  and  size,  which  in  springtime  filled  the 
air  with  honeyed  perfume,  and  lulled  with  the 
"  murmur  of  innumerable  bees." 

There  was  an  "office"  in  the  yard;  another 
house  where  the  boys  used  to  stay,  and  the  right 
to  sleep  in  which  was  as  eagerly  looked  forward  to 
and  as  highly  prized  as  was  by  the  youth  of  Rome 
the  wearing  of  the  toga  virilis.  There  the  guns 
were  kept;  there  the  dogs  might  sleep  with  their 
masters,  under,  or  occasionally,  in  cold  weather, 
even  on,  the  beds ;  and  there  charming  bits  of  gos- 
sip were  retailed  by  the  older  young  gentlemen, 
and  delicious  tales  of  early  wickedness  related,  all 
the  more  delightful  because  they  were  veiled  in 
chaste  language  phrased  not  merely  to  meet  the 
doctrine,  maxima  reverentia  pueris  debetur,  but  to 
meet  the  higher  truth  that  no  gentleman  would  use 
foul  language. 

Off  to  one  side  was  the  orchard,  in  springtime 
a  bower  of  pink  and  snow,  and  always  making  a 
pleasant  spot  in  the  landscape;  beyond  which 
peeped  the  ample  barns  and  stables. 

The  fields  that  stretched  around  were  poor,  and 
in  places  red  "  galls  "  showed  through,  but  the  til- 
lage was  careful  and  systematic.  At  the  best,  it 


SOCIAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE   WAE.  145 

was  a  boast  that  a  dish  of  blackberries  could  not 
be  got  on  the  place.  The  brown  worm  fences  ran 
in  lateral  lines  across,  and  the  ditches  were  kept 
clean  except  for  useful  willows. 

The  furniture  was  old-timey  and  plain ;  mahog- 
any and  rosewood  bedsteads  and  dressers  black 
with  age,  and  polished  till  they  shone  like  mirrors, 
hung  with  draperies  white  as  snow ;  straight-backed 
chairs  generations  old  interspersed  with  common 
new  ones ;  long  sofas ;  old  shining  tables  with  slen- 
der, brass-tipped  legs,  straight  or  fluted,  holding 
some  fine  old  books,  and  in  springtime  a  blue  or 
flowered  bowl  or  two  with  glorious  roses;  book- 
cases filled  with  brown-backed,  much-read  books. 
This  was  all. 

The  servants'  houses,  smoke-house,  wash-house, 
and  carpenter  shop  were  set  around  the  "back 
yard "  with  "  mammy's  house  "  a  little  nicer  than 
the  others ;  and  farther  off,  upon  and  beyond  the 
quarters  hill,  "  the  quarters  "  —  whitewashed,  sub- 
stantial buildings,  each  for  a  family,  with  chicken- 
houses  hard  by,  and  with  or  without  yards  closed  in 
by  split  palings,  filled  with  fruit  trees,  which  some- 
how bore  cherries,  peaches,  and  apples  in  a  myste- 
rious profusion  even  when  the  orchard  failed. 

The  gardens  (there  were  two :  the  vegetable  gar- 
den and  the  flower  garden)  were  separate.  The 
former  was  the  test  of  the  mistress's  power;  for 
at  the  most  critical  times  she  took  the  best  hands 
on  the  place  to  work  it.  The  latter  was  the  proof 


146  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

of  her  taste.  It  was  a  strange  affair ;  pyrocanthus 
hedged  it  on  the  outside ;  honeysuckle  ran  riot  over 
its  palings,  perfuming  the  air ;  yellow  cowslips  in 
well-regulated  tufts  edged  some  borders,  while 
sweet  peas,  pinks,  and  violets  spread  out  recklessly 
over  others;  jonquilles  yellow  as  gold,  and,  once 
planted,  blooming  every  spring  as  certainly  as  the 
trees  budded  or  the  birds  nested,  grew  in  thick 
bunches,  and  everywhere  were  tall  lilies,  white  as 
angels'  wings  and  stately  as  the  maidens  that  walked 
among  them;  big  snowball  bushes  blooming  with 
snow,  lilacs  purple  and  white  and  sweet  in  the 
spring,  and  always  with  birds'  nests  in  them  with 
the  bluest  of  eggs ;  and  in  places  rosebushes,  and 
tall  hollyhock  stems  filled  with  rich  rosettes  of 
every  hue  and  shade,  made  a  delicious  tangle.  In 
the  autumn  rich  dahlias  and  pungent-odored  chrys- 
anthemums closed  the  season. 

But  the  flower  of  all  others  was  the  rose.  There 
were  roses  everywhere ;  clambering  roses  over  the 
porches  and  windows,  sending  their  fragrance  into 
the  rooms ;  roses  beside  the  walks ;  roses  around 
the  yard  and  in  the  garden ;  roses  of  every  hue  and 
delicate  refinement  of  perfume ;  rich  yellow  roses 
thick  on  their  briery  bushes,  coming  almost  with 
the  dandelions  and  buttercups,  before  any  others 
dared  face  the  April  showers  to  learn  if  March  had 
truly  gone,  sweet  as  if  they  had  come  from  Paradise 
to  be  worn  upon  young  maidens'  bosoms,  as  they 
might  well  have  done  —  who  knows?  —  followed 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFORE   THE    WAR  147 

by  the  Giant  of  Battles  on  their  stout  stems, 
glorious  enough  to  have  been  the  worthy  badge  of 
victorious  Lancastrian  kings ;  white  Yorks  hardly 
less  royal ;  cloth-of-golds  ;  dainty  teas ;  rich  dam- 
asks ;  old  sweet  hundred-leafs  sifting  down  their 
petals  on  the  grass,  and  always  filling  with  two  the 
place  where  one  had  fallen.  These  and  many  more 
made  the  air  fragrant,  while  the  catbirds  and  mock- 
ing-birds fluttered  and  sang  among  them,  and  the 
robins  foraged  in  the  grass  for  their  yellow-throated 
little  ones  waiting  in  the  half-hidden  nests. 

Looking  out  over  the  fields  was  a  scene  not  to  be 
forgotten.  Let  me  give  it  in  the  words  of  one  who 
knew  and  loved  Virginia  well,  and  was  her  best  in- 
terpreter —  Dr.  George  W.  Bagby.  His  "  Old  Vir- 
ginia Gentleman "  is  perhaps  the  best  sketch  yet 
written  in  the  South.  To  it  I  am  doubtless  in- 
debted for  much  that  I  say  in  this  paper.  His 
description  might  do  for  a  picture  of  Staunton 
Hill  resting  in  delicious  calm  on  its  eminence  above 
the  Staunton  Eiver. 

"A  scene  not  of  enchantment,  though  contrast 
often  made  it  seem  so,  met  the  eye.  Wide,  very 
wide  fields  of  waving  grain,  billowy  seas  of  green 
or  gold  as  the  season  chanced  to  be,  over  which 
the  scudding  shadows  chased  and  played,  gladdened 
the  heart  with  wealth  far  spread.  Upon  lowlands 
level  as  the  floor  the  plumed  and  tasselled  corn 
stood  tall  and  dense,  rank  behind  rank  in  military 
alignment  —  a  serried  army  lush  and  strong.  The 


148  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

rich,  dark  soil  of  the  gently  swelling  knolls  [it  was 
not  always  rich]  could  scarcely  be  seen  under  the 
broad  lapping  leaves  of  the  mottled  tobacco.  The 
hills  were  carpeted  with  clover.  Beneath  the  tree- 
clumps  fat  cattle  chewed  the  cud,  or  peaceful  sheep 
reposed,  grateful  for  the  shade.  In  the  midst  of 
this  plenty,  half  hidden  in  foliage,  over  which  the 
graceful  shafts  of  the  Lombard  poplar  towered,  with 
its  bounteous  garden  and  its  orchards  heavy  with 
fruit  near  at  hand,  peered  the  old  mansion,  white, 
or  dusky  red,  or  mellow  gray  by  the  storm  and 
shine  of  years. 

"Seen  by  the  tired  horseman  halting  at  the 
woodland's  edge,  this  picture,  steeped  in  the  in- 
tense quivering  summer  moonlight,  filled  the  soul 
with  unspeakable  emotions  of  beauty,  tenderness, 
peace,  home. 

"  How  calm  could  we  rest 
In  that  bosom  of  shade  with  the  friends  we  love  best ! 

"  Sorrows  and  care  were  there  —  where  do  they 
not  penetrate  ?  But,  oh !  dear  God,  one  day  in 
those  sweet  tranquil  homes  outweighed  a  fevered 
lifetime  in  the  gayest  cities  of  the  globe.  Tell  me 
nothing ;  I  undervalue  naught  that  man's  heart  de- 
lights in.  I  dearly  love  operas  and  great  pageants ; 
but  I  do  know  —  as  I  know  nothing  else  —  that 
the  first  years  of  human  life,  and  the  last,  yea,  if  it 
be  possible,  all  the  years,  should  be  passed  in  the 
country.  The  towns  may  do  for  a  day,  a  week,  a 


SOCIAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE   WAR  149 

month  at  most ;  but  Nature,  Mother  Nature,  pure 
and  clean,  is  for  all  time ;  yes,  for  eternity  itself." 

The  life  about  the  place  was  amazing.  There 
were  the  busy  children  playing  in  troops,  the  boys 
mixed  up  with  the  little  darkies  as  freely  as  any 
other  young  animals,  and  forming  the  associations 
which  tempered  slavery  and  made  the  relation  one 
of  friendship.  There  they  were  stooping  down 
and  jumping  up ;  turning  and  twisting  their  heads 
close  together,  like  chickens  over  an  "invisible 
repast,"  their  active  bodies  always  in  motion,  busy 
over  their  little  matters  with  that  ceaseless  energy 
of  boyhood  which  could  move  the  world  could  it 
but  be  concentrated  and  conserved.  They  were  all 
over  the  place ;  in  the  orchard  robbing  birds'  nests, 
getting  into  wild  excitement  over  catbirds,  which 
they  ruthlessly  murdered  because  they  "called 
snakes  "  ;  in  spring  and  summer  fishing  or  "  wash- 
ing "  in  the  creek,  riding  the  plough-horses  whenever 
they  could,  running  the  calves  and  colts,  and  being 
as  mischievous  as  young  mules. 

There  were  the  little  girls  in  their  great  sunbon- 
nets,  often  sewed  on  to  preserve  the  wonderful 
peach-blossom  complexions,  with  their  small  female 
companions  playing  about  the  yard  or  garden,  run- 
ning with  and  wishing  they  were  boys,  and  getting 
scoldings  from  mammy  for  being  tomboys  and 
tearing  their  aprons  and  dresses.  There,  in  the 
shade,  near  her  "  house,"  was  the  mammy  and  her 
assistants,  with  her  little  charge  in  her  arms,  sleep- 


150  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

ing  in  her  ample  lap,  or  toddling  about  her,  with 
broken,  half-framed  phrases,  better  understood  than 
formed.  There  passed  young  negro  girls,  blue- 
habited,  running  about  bearing  messages ;  or  older 
women  moving  at  a  statelier  pace,  doing  with  de- 
liberation the  little  jobs  which  were  their  "work" ; 
while  about  the  office,  or  smoke-house,  or  dairy,  or 
wood-pile  there  were  always  some  movement  and 
life.  The  recurrent  hum  on  the  air  of  spinning- 
wheels,  like  the  drone  of  some  great  insect,  sounded 
from  the  cabins  where  the  turbaned  spinners  spun 
their  fleecy  rolls  into  yarn  for  the  looms  which  were 
clacking  from  the  loom-rooms  making  homespun 
for  the  plantation. 

From  the  back  yard  and  quarters  the  laughter  of 
women  and  the  shrill,  joyous  voices  of  children 
came.  Far  off,  in  the  fields,  the  white-shirted 
"ploughers"  followed  singly  their  slow  teams  in  the 
fresh  furrows,  wagons  rattled  and  ox-carts  crawled 
along,  or  gangs  of  hands  in  lines  performed  their 
work  in  the  corn  or  tobacco  fields,  loud  shouts  and 
peals  of  laughter,  mellowed  by  the  distance,  float- 
ing up  from  time  to  time,  telling  that  the  heart 
was  light  and  the  toil  not  too  heavy. 

At  special  times  there  was  special  activity  :  at 
ice-getting  time,  at  corn-thinning  time,  at  fodder- 
pulling  time,  at  threshing-wheat  time,  but  above 
all  at  corn-shucking  time,  at  hog-killing  time,  and 
at  "  harvest."  Harvest  was  spoken  of  as  a  season. 
It  was  a  festival.  The  severest  toil  of  the  year 


SOCIAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE   WAR  151 

was  a  frolic.  Every  "  hand  "  was  eager  for  it.  It 
was  the  test  of  the  men's  prowess  and  the  women's 
skill ;  for  it  took  a  man  to  swing  his  cradle  through 
the  long  June  days  and  keep  up  with  the  bare- 
necked, knotted-armed  leader  as  he  strode  and 
swung  his  cradle  ringing  through  the  heavy  wheat. 
So  it  demanded  a  strong  back  and  nimble  fingers  to 
"  keep  up  "  and  bind  the  sheaves.  The  young  men 
looked  forward  to  it  as  the  young  bucks  looked  to 
the  war-path.  How  gay  they  appeared,  moving  in 
oblique  lines  around  the  "  great  parallelograms," 
sweeping  down  the  yellow  grain,  and,  as  they 
neared  the  starting-point,  chanting  with  mellow 
voices  the  harvest  song  "  Cool  Water " !  How 
musical  was  the  cadence  as,  taking  time  to  get 
their  wind,  they  whetted  their  ringing  blades  in 
unison !  There  was  never  any  loneliness ;  it  was 
movement  and  life  without  bustle ;  while  somehow, 
in  the  midst  of  it  all,  the  house  seemed  to  sit  en- 
throned in  perpetual  tranquillity,  with  outstretched 
wings  under  its  spreading  oaks,  sheltering  its  chil- 
dren like  a  great  gray  dove. 

Even  at  night  there  was  stirring  about :  the  ring 
of  an  axe,  the  infectious  music  of  the  banjos,  the 
laughter  of  dancers,  the  festive  noise  and  merri- 
ment of  the  cabin,  the  distant,  mellowed  shouts  of 
'coon  or  'possum  hunters,  or  the  dirge-like  chant  of 
some  serious  and  timid  wayfarer  passing  along  the 
paths  over  the  hills  or  through  the  woods,  and  solac- 
ing his  lonely  walk  with  religious  song. 


152  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

Such  was  the  outward  scene.  What  was  there 
within?  That  which  has  been  much  misunder- 
stood ;  that  which  was  like  the  roses,  wasteful 
beyond  measure  in  its  unheeded  growth  and  blow- 
ing; but  sweet  beyond  measure,  too,  and  filling 
with  its  fragrance  not  only  the  region  round  about, 
but  sending  it  out  unstintedly  on  every  breeze  that 
wandered  by. 

There  were  the  master  and  the  mistress  ;  the  old 
master  and  old  mistress,  the  young  masters  and 
young  mistresses,  and  the  children;  besides  some 
aunts  and  cousins,  and  the  relations  or  friends  who 
did  not  live  there,  but  were  only  always  on  visits. 

Properly,  the  mistress  should  be  mentioned  first, 
as  she  was  the  most  important  personage  about  the 
home,  the  presence  which  pervaded  the  mansion, 
the  master  willingly  and  proudly  yielding  her  the 
active  management  of  all  household  matters  and 
simply  carrying  out  her  directions,  confining  his 
ownership  within  the  curtilage  exclusively  to  his 
old  "secretary,"  which  on  her  part  was  as  sacred 
from  her  touch  as  her  bonnet  was  from  his.  There 
were  kept  mysterious  folded  papers,  and  equally 
mysterious  parcels,  frequently  brown  with  the 
stain  of  dust  and  age.  Had  the  papers  been  the 
lost  sibylline  leaves  instead  of  old  receipts  and 
bills,  and  the  parcels  contained  diamonds  instead 
of  long-dried  melon-seed  or  old  flints,  now  out  of 
date  but  once  ready  to  serve  a  useful  purpose,  they 
could  not  have  been  more  sacredly  guarded  by  the 


SOCIAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR  153 

mistress.  The  master  generally  had  to  hunt  for  a 
long  period  for  any  particular  paper,  whilst  the 
mistress  could  in  a  half-hour  have  arranged  every- 
thing in  perfect  order  ;  but  the  chaos  was  regarded 
by  her  with  veneration  as  real  as  that  with  which 
she  regarded  the  mystery  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 
On  the  other  hand,  outside  of  this  piece  of  furni- 
ture there  was  nothing  which  the  master  even  pre- 
tended to  know  of.  It  was  all  in  her  keeping; 
whatever  he  wanted  he  called  for  and  she  produced 
with  a  certainty  and  promptness  which  appeared  to 
him  a  perpetual  miracle.  Her  system  struck  him 
as  being  the  result  of  a  wisdom  as  profound  as  that 
which  fixed  and  held  the  firmament.  He  would  not 
have  dared  to  interfere,  not  because  he  was  afraid, 
but  because  he  recognized  her  superiority.  It  would 
no  more  have  occurred  to  him  to  make  a  suggestion 
about  the  management  of  the  house  than  about  that 
of  one  of  his  neighbors,  indeed  not  so  readily ;  simply 
because  he  knew  her  and  acknowledged  her  infalli- 
bility. She  was,  indeed,  a  surprising  creature  — 
often  delicate  and  feeble  in  frame,  and  of  a  ner- 
vous organization  so  sensitive  as  to  be  a  great  suf- 
ferer; but  her  force  and  her  character  pervaded 
and  directed  everything,  as  unseen  yet  as  unmis- 
takably as  the  power  of  gravity  controls  the  par- 
ticles that  constitute  the  earth. 

It  has  been  assumed  by  the  outside  world  that 
our  people  lived  a  life  of  idleness  and  ease,  a 
kind  of  "  hammock-swung,"  "  sherbet-sipping  "  ex- 


154  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

istence,  fanned  by  slaves,  and,  in  their  pride, 
served  on  bended  knees.  No  conception  could  be 
further  from  the  truth.  The  ease  of  the  master  of 
a  big  plantation  was  about  that  of  the  head  of  any- 
great  establishment  where  numbers  of  operatives 
are  employed;  and  to  the  management  of  which  are 
added  the  responsibilities  of  the  care  and  complete 
mastership  of  the  liberty  of  his  operatives  and  their 
families.  His  work  was  generally  sufficiently  sys- 
tematized to  admit  of  enough  personal  independence 
to  enable  him  to  participate  in  the  duties  of  hos- 
pitality ;  but  any  master  who  had  a  successfully 
conducted  plantation  was  sure  to  have  given  it  his 
personal  supervision  with  an  unremitting  attention 
which  would  not  have  failed  to  secure  success  in 
any  other  calling.  If  this  was  true  of  the  master, 
it  was  much  more  so  of  the  mistress.  The  master 
might,  by  having  a  good  overseer  and  reliable 
headmen,  shift  a  portion  of  the  burden  from  his 
shoulders ;  the  mistress  had  no  such  means  of 
relief.  She  was  the  necessary  and  invariable  func- 
tionary; the  keystone  of  the  domestic  economy 
which  bound  all  the  rest  of  the  structure  and  gave 
it  its  strength  and  beauty.  From  early  morn  till 
morn  again  the  most  important  and  delicate  con- 
cerns of  the  plantation  were  her  charge  and  care. 
From  superintending  the  setting  of  the  turkeys 
to  fighting  a  pestilence,  there  was  nothing  which 
was  not  her  work.  She  was  mistress,  manager, 
doctor,  nurse,  counsellor,  seamstress,  teacher,  house- 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFORE   THE   WAR  155 

keeper,  slave,  all  at  once.  She  was  at  the  beck 
and  call  of  every  one,  especially  of  her  husband, 
to  whom  she  was  "  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend." 

One  of  them,  being  told  of  a  broken  gate  by  her 
husband,  said,  "Well,  my  dear,  if  I  could  sew  it 
with  my  needle  and  thread,  I  would  mend  it  for 
you." 

What  she  was  only  her  husband  knew,  and 
even  he  stood  before  her  in  dumb,  half-amazed 
admiration,  as  he  might  before  the  inscrutable 
vision  of  a  superior  being.  What  she  really  was, 
was  known  only  to  God.  Her  life  was  one  long 
act  of  devotion  —  devotion  to  God,  devotion  to 
her  husband,  devotion  to  her  children,  devotion 
to  her  servants,  to  her  friends,  to  the  poor,  to  all 
humanity.  Nothing  happened  within  the  range  of 
her  knowledge  that  her  sympathy  did  not  reach 
and  her  charity  and  wisdom  did  not  ameliorate. 
She  was  the  head  and  front  of  the  church;  an 
uninitred  bishop  in  partibus,  more  effectual  than 
the  vestry  or  deacons,  more  earnest  than  the  rec- 
tor; she  managed  her  family,  regulated  her  ser- 
vants,  fed  the  poor,  nursed  the  sick,  consoled  the 
bereaved.  Who  knew  of  the  visits  she  paid  to  the 
cabins  of  her  sick  and  suffering  servants  !  often,  at 
the  dead  of  night,  "  slipping  down  "  the  last  thing 
to  see  that  her  directions  were  carried  out ;  with 
her  own  hands  administering  medicines  or  food ; 
ever  by  her  cheeriness  inspiring  new  hope,  by  her 
strength  giving  courage,  by  her  presence  awaking 


156  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

faith;  telling  in  her  soft  voice  to  dying  ears  the 
story  of  the  suffering  Saviour ;  soothing  the  troubled 
spirit,  and  lighting  the  path  down  into  the  valley 
of  the  dark  shadow.  What  poor  person  was  there, 
however  inaccessible  the  cabin,  that  was  sick  or 
destitute  and  knew,  not  her  charity  !  who  that  was 
bereaved  that  had  not  her  sympathy !  The  train- 
ing of  her  children  was  her  work.  She  watched 
over  them,  inspired  them,  led  them,  governed  them  ; 
her  will  impelled  them ;  her  word  to  them,  as  to 
her  servants,  was  law.  She  reaped  the  reward. 
If  she  admired  them,  she  was  too  wise  to  let  them 
know  it ;  but  her  sympathy  and  tenderness  were 
theirs  always  and  they  worshipped  her. 

There  was  something  in  seeing  the  master  and 
mistress  obeyed  by  the  plantation  and  looked  up 
to  by  the  neighborhood  which  inspired  the  children 
with  a  reverence  akin  to  awe  which  is  not  known 
at  this  present  time.  It  was  not  till  the  young 
people  were  grown  that  this  reverence  lost  the  awe 
and  became  based  only  upon  affection  and  admira- 
tion. Then,  for  the  first  time,  they  dared  to  jest 
with  her ;  then,  for  the  first  time,  they  took  in 
that  she  was  like  them  once,  young  and  gay  and 
pleasure-loving,  with  lovers  suing  for  her;  with 
coquetries  and  maidenly  ways ;  and  that  she  still 
took  pleasure  in  the  recollection  —  this  gentle, 
classic,  serious  mother  among  her  tall  sons  and 
radiant  daughters.  How  she  blushed  as  they 
laughed  at  her  and  teased  her  to  tell  of  her  con- 


SOCIAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE   WAR  157 

quests,  her  confusion  making  her  look  younger  and 
prettier  than  they  remembered  her,  and  opening 
their  eyes  to  the  truth  of  what  their  father  had 
told  them  so  often,  that  not  one  of  them  was  as 
beautiful  as  she. 

She  became  timid  and  dependent  as  they  grew 
up  and  she  found  them  adorned  with  new  fashions 
and  ways  which  she  did  not  know ;  she  gave  her- 
self up  to  their  guidance  with  a  helpless  kind  of 
diffidence;  was  tremulous  over  her  ignorance  of 
the  novel  fashions  which  made  them  so  beautiful ; 
yet,  when  the  exactions  of  her  position  came  upon 
her,  she  took  the  lead,  and,  by  her  instinctive  dig- 
nity, her  self-possession,  and  her  force,  eclipsed 
them  all  as  naturally  as  the  full  moon  in  heaven 
dims  the  stars. 

As  to  the  master  himself  it  is  hard  to  generalize. 
Yet  there  were  indeed  certain  generic  characteris- 
tics, whether  he  was  quiet  and  severe,  or  jovial 
and  easy.  There  was  the  foundation  of  a  certain 
pride  based  on  self-respect  and  consciousness  of 
power.  There  were  nearly  always  the  firm  mouth 
with  its  strong  lines,  the  calm,  placid,  direct  gaze, 
the  quiet  speech  of  one  who  is  accustomed  to  com- 
mand and  have  his  command  obeyed ;  there  was  a 
contemplative  expression  due  to  much  communing 
alone,  with  weighty  responsibilities  resting  upon 
him ;  there  was  absolute  self-confidence,  and  often  a 
look  caused  by  tenacity  of  opinion.  There  was  not 
a  doubtful  line  in  the  face  nor  a  doubtful  tone  in 


158  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

the  voice ;  his  opinions  were  convictions  ;  he  was  a 
partisan  to  the  backbone ;  he  was  generally  incapa- 
ble of  seeing  more  than  one  side.  This  prevented 
breadth,  but  gave  force.  He  was  proud,  but  never 
haughty  except  to  dishonor.  To  that  he  was  inex- 
orable. He  believed  in  God,  he  believed  in  his 
wife,  he  believed  in  his  blood.  He  was  chivalrous, 
he  was  generous,  he  was  usually  incapable  of  fear 
or  meanness.  To  be  a  Virginia  gentleman  was  the 
first  duty ;  it  embraced  being  a  Christian  and  all 
the  virtues.  He  lived  as  one;  he  left  it  as  a 
heritage  tb  his  children.  He  was  fully  appreciative 
of  both  the  honors  and  the  responsibilities  of  his 
position.  He  believed  in  a  democracy,  but  under- 
stood that  the  absence  of  a  titled  aristocracy  had 
to  be  supplied  by  a  class  more  virtuous  than  he 
believed  them  to  be.  This  class  was,  of  course, 
that  to  which  he  belonged.  He  purposed  in  his 
own  person  to  prove  that  this  was  practicable.  He 
established  that  it  was.  This  and  other  responsi- 
bilities made  him  grave.  He  had  inherited  gravity 
from  his  father  and  grandfather  before  him.  The 
latter  had  been  a  performer  in  the  greatest  work 
of  modern  times,  with  the  shadow  of  the  scaffold 
over  him  if  he  failed.  The  former  had  faced  the 
weighty  problems  of  the  new  government,  with 
ever  many  unsolved  questions  to  answer.  He  him- 
self faced  problems  not  less  grave.  The  greatness 
of  the  past,  the  time  when  Virginia  had  been  the 
mighty  power  of  the  New  World,  loomed  ever 


SOCIAL  LIFE   BEFORE  THE  WAR  159 

above  him.  It  increased  Ms  natural  conservatism. 
He  saw  the  change  that  was  steadily  creeping  on. 
The  conditions  that  had  given  his  class  their  power 
and  prestige  had  altered.  The  fields  were  worked 
down,  and  agriculture  that  had  made  his  class  rich 
no  longer  paid.  The  cloud  was  already  gathering 
in  the  horizon ;  the  shadow  already  was  stretching 
towards  him.  He  could  foresee  the  danger  that 
threatened  Vii'ginia.  A  peril  ever  sat  beside  his 
door.  He  was  "holding  the  wolf  by  the  ears.'^ 
Outside  influences  hostile  to  his  interest  were  being 
brought  to  bear.  Any  movement  must  work  him 
injury.  He  sought  the  only  refuge  that  appeared. 
He  fell  back  behind  the  Constitution  that  his 
fathers  had  helped  to  establish,  and  became  a 
strict  constructionist  for  Virginia  and  his  rights. 
These  things  made  him  grave.  He  reflected  much. 
Out  on  the  long  verandas  in  the  dusk  of  the  sum- 
mer nights,  with  his  wide  fields  stretching  away 
into  the  gloom,  and  "the  woods"  bounding  the 
horizon,  his  thoughts  dwelt  upon  serious  things  ; 
he  pondered  causes  and  consequences ;  he  resolved 
everything  to  prime  principles.  He  communed 
with  the  Creator,  and  his  first  work,  Nature. 

He  was  a  wonderful  talker.  He  discoursed  of  phil- 
osophy, politics,  and  religion.  He  read  much,  gener- 
ally on  these  subjects,  and  read  only  the  best.  His 
book-cases  held  the  masters  (in  mellow  Elzevirs 
and  Lintots)  who  had  been  his  father's  friends, 
and  with  whom  he  associated  and  communed  more 


160  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

intimately  than  with  his  neighbors.  Horace,  Virgil, 
Ovid,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Dryden,  Goldsmith, 
"  Mr.  Pope,"  were  his  poets ;  Bacon,  Burke,  and 
Dr.  Johnson  were  his  philosophers.  These  "new 
fellows"  that  his  sons  raved  over  he  held  in  so 
much  contempt  that  his  mere  statement  of  their 
inferiority  was  to  his  mind  an  all-convincing  argu- 
ment. 

Yet,  if  he  was  generally  grave,  he  was  at  times, 
among  his  intimates  and  guests,  jovial,  even  gay. 
On  festive  occasions  no  one  surpassed  him  in  cheer- 
iness.  When  the  house  was  full  of  guests  he  was 
the  life  of  the  company.  He  led  the  prettiest  girl 
out  for  the  dance.  At  Christmas  he  took  her  under 
the  mistletoe  and  paid  her  compliments  which 
made  her  blush  and  courtesy  with  dimpling  face  and 
dancing  eyes.  But  whatever  was  his  mood,  what- 
ever his  surroundings,  he  was  always  the  exponent 
of  that  grave  and  knightly  courtesy  which  under 
all  conditions  has  become  associated  with  the  title 
"Virginia  gentleman." 

Whether  or  not  the  sons  were,  as  young  men, 
peculiarly  admirable  may  be  a  question.  They 
possessed  the  faults  and  the  virtues  of  young  men 
of  their  kind  and  condition.  They  were  much 
given  to  ^elf-indnlyfriGfi ;  they  were  not  broad  in 
their  limitations ;  they  were  apt  toconto"111  w]y*  did 
upjb  accord  with  their  own  established  views  (for  their 
views  were  established  UUfUl'U  "Llieir  mustaches)  ; 
they  were  wasteful  of  time  and  energies  beyond 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFORE   THE    WAR  161 

belief ;  they  were  addicted  to  the  pursuit  of  pleasure, 
and  blind  to  opportunities  which  were  priceless. 
They  exhibited  the  customary  failings  of  their  kind 
in  a  society  of  an  aristocratic  characfer.  But  they 
possessed  in  full  measure  the  corresponding  virtues. 
They  were  bgave.  they  were  generous,  they  were 
high-spirited.  Indulgence  in  pleasure  did  not  de- 
stroy" th"<?m.  It  was  the  young  French  noblesse 
who  affected  to  eschew  exertion  even  to  the  point 
of  having  themselves  borne  on  litters  on  their 
boar-hunts,  who  yet,  with  a  hundred  pounds  of  iron 
buckled  on  their  frames,  charged  like  furies  at 
Fontenoy.  So  these  same  languid,  philandering 
young  gentlemen  of  Virginia  at  the  crucial  time 
suddenly  appeared  as  the  most  dashing  and  indpm- 
itable  soldiery  of  modern  times.  It  was  the  Nor- 
folk  Company  known  as  the  "  Dandies  "  that  was 
extirpated  in  a  single  day. 

But,  whatever  may  be  thougjit_aLihe  sons,  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  th^laugftters.  ~Tjiey  were 
like  the  mother ;  made  in  her"  OWIJ  image.  They 
filled  a  peculiar  place  in  the  civilization ;  the  key 
was  set  to  them ;  they  held  by  a  universal  consent 

the  firnti  p.1"^'  '     I1      'j  'i )  ill1  social  life  revolving 

around  them.  So  generally  did  the  life  shape  itself 
about  the  young  girl  that  it  was  almost  as  if  a  bit 
of  the  age  of  chivalry  had  been  blown  down  the 
centuries  and  lodged  in  the  old  State.  She  instinc- 
tively adapted  herself  to  it.  In  fact,  she  was  made 
for  it.  She  was  gently  bred :  her  people  for  gener- 


162  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

ations  (since  they  had  come  to  Virginia)  were  gen- 
tlefolk. They  were  so  well  satisfied  that  they  had 
been  the  same  in  the  mother  country  that  they  had 
never  taken  the  trouble  to  investigate  it.  She  was 
the  incontestable  proof  of  their  gentility.  In  right 
of  her  blood  (the  beautiful  Saxon,  tempered  by  the 
influences  of  the  genial  Southern  clime),  she  was 
exquisite,  fine,  beautiful ;  a  creature  of  peach-blos- 
som and  snow ;  languid,  delicate,  saucy ;  now  impe- 
rious, now  melting,  always  bewitching.  She  was 
not  versed  in  the  ways  of  the  world,  but  she  had 
no  need  to  be  ;  she  was  better  than  that ;  she  was 
well  bred.  She  had  not  to  learn  to  be,  because  she 
was  born  a  lady.  Generations  had  given  her  that 
by  heredity.  But  ignorance  of  the  world  did  not 
make  her  provincial.  Her  instinct  was  an  infallible 
guide.  When  a  child  she  had  in  her  sunbonnet 
and  apron  met  the  visitors  at  the  front  steps  and 
entertained  them  in  the  parlor  vintil  her  mother 
was  ready.  Thus  she  had  grown  up  to  the  duties 
of  hostess.  Her  manners  were  as  perfectly  formed 
as  her  mother's,  with  perhaps  a  shade  more  self- 
possession.  Her  beauty  was  a  title  which  gave 
her  a  graciousness  that  befitted  her.  She  never 
"  came  out,"  because  she  had  never  been  in ;  and 
the  line  between  girlhood  and  young-ladyhood  was 
never  known.  She  began  to  have  beaux  certainly 
before  she  reached  the  line ;  but  it  did  her  no  harm : 
she  would  long  walk  herself  "  fancy  free " ;  a  pro- 
tracted devotion  was  required  of  her  lovers,  and 


SOCIAL   LUTE   BEFORE   THE   WAR  163 

they  began  early.  They  were  willing  to  serve  long, 
for  she  was  a  prize  worth  winning.  Her  beauty, 
though  it  was  often  dazzling,  was  not  her  chief 
attraction ;  that  was  herself.  It  was  that  indefin- 
able charm :  the  result  of  many  attractions,  in 
combination  and  in  perfect  harmony,  which  made 
her  herself.  She  was  delicate,  she  was  dainty,  she 
was  sweet.  She  lived  in  an  atmosphere  created  for 
her — the  pure,  clean,  sweet  atmosphere  of  her 
country  home.  She  made  its  sunshine.  She  was  a 
coquette,  often  an  outrageous  flirt.  It  did  not 
imply  heartlessness.  It  was  said  that  the  worst 
flirts  made  the  most  devoted  wives.  It  was  simply 
an  instinct,  an  inheritance  ;  it  was  in  the  life.  Her 
heart  was  tender  towards  every  living  thing  but 
her  lovers ;  even  to  them  it  was  soft  in  every  way 
but  one.  Had  they  had  a  finger-ache  she  would 
have  sympathized  with  them.  But  in  the  matter 
of  love  she  was  inexorable,  remorseless.  She  played 
upon  every  chord  of  the  heart.  Perhaps  it  was 
because,  when  she  gave  up,  the  surrender  was  to 
be  absolute.  From  the  moment  of  marriage  she 
was  the  worshipper.  She  was  a  strange  being. 
Dressed  in  her  muslin  and  lawn,  with  her  delicious, 
low,  slow,  musical  speech ;  accustomed  to  be  waited 
on  at  every  turn,  with  servants  to  do  her  every 
bidding,  unhabituated  often  even  to  putting  on 
her  dainty  slippers  or  combing  her  soft  hair,  she 
possessed  a  reserve  force  which  was  astounding. 
She  was  accustomed  to  have  her  wishes  obeyed 


164  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

as  commands.  It  did  not  make  her  imperious;  it 
simply  gave  her  the  habit  of  control.  At  marriage 
she  was  prepared  to  assume  the  duties  of  mistress 
of  her  establishment,  whether  it  were  great  or 
small. 

Thus,  when  the  time  came,  the  class  at  the  South 
which  had  been  deemed  the  most  supine  suddenly 
appeared  as  the  most  active  and  the  most  indom- 
itable. The  courage  which  was  displayed  in  battle 
was  wonderful;  but  it  was  nothing  to  what  the 
Southern  women  exemplified  at  home.  There  was 
perhaps  not  a  doubtful  woman  within  the  limits  of 
the  Confederacy.  While  their  lovers  and  husbands 
fought  in  the  field,  they  performed  the  harder  part 
of  waiting  at  home.  With  more  than  a  soldier's 
courage  they  bore  more  than  a  soldier's  hardship. 
For  four  long  years  they  listened  to  the  noise  of 
the  guns,  awaiting  with  blanched  faces  but  un- 
daunted hearts  the  news  of  battle  after  battle  ; 
buried  their  beloved  dead  with  tears,  and  still  amid 
their  tears  encouraged  the  survivors  to  fight  on.  It 
was  a  force  which  has  not  been  duly  estimated. 
It  was  in  the  blood. 

She  was,  indeed,  a  strange  creature,  that  delicate, 
dainty,  mischievous,  tender,  God-fearing,  inexplica- 
ble Southern  girl.  With  her  fine  grain,  her  silken 
hair,  her  satiny  skin,  her  musical  speech;  pleas- 
itre-loving,  saucy,  bewitching  —  deep  down  lay  the 
bed-rock  foundation  of  innate  virtue,  piety,  and 
womanliness,  on  which  were  planted  all  to  which 


., 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFOKE   THE    WAR  165 

human  nature  can  hope,  and  all  to  which  it  can 
aspire.  Words  fail  to  convey  an  idea  of  what  she 
was ;  as  well  try  to  describe  the  beauty  of  the  rose 
or  the  perfume  of  the  violet.  To  appreciate  her 
one  must  have  seen  her,  have  known  her,  have 
adored  her. 

There  are  certain  characters  without  mention  of 
which  no  description  of  the  social  life  of  old  Vir- 
ginia or  of  the  South  would  be  complete  —  the  old 
mammies  and  family  servants  about  the  house. 
These  were  important  functionaries.  The  mammy 
was  the  zealous,  faithful,  and  efficient  assistant  of 
the  mistress  in  all  that  pertained  to  the  training  of 
the  children.  Her  authority  was  recognized  in  all 
that  related  to  them  directly  or  indirectly,  second 
only  to  that  of  the  mistress  and  master.  She  regu- 
lated them,  disciplined  them,  having-  authority  in- 
deed in  cases  to  administer  correction.  Her  regime 
extended  frequently  through  two  generations,  occa- 
sionally through  three.  From  their  infancy  she 
was  the  careful  and  faithful  nurse,  the  affection 
between  her  and  the  children  she  nursed  being 
often  more  marked  than  that  between  her  and  her 
own  children.  She  may  have  been  harsh  to  the 
latter ;  she  was  never  anything  but  tender  with  the 
others.  Her  authority  was,  in  a  measure,  recog- 
nized through  life,  for  her  devotion  was  unques- 
tionable. The  young  masters  and  mistresses  were 
her  "  children  "  long  after  they  had  children  of  their 
own.  They  embraced  her,  when  they  parted  from 


166  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

her  or  met  with  her  again  after  separation,  with 
the  same  affection  as  when  in  childhood  she  "led 
them  smiling  into  sleep."  She  was  worthy  of  the 
affection.  At  all  times  she  was  their  faithful  ally, 
shielding  them,  excusing  them,  petting  them,  aiding 
them,  yet  holding  them  up  to  a  certain  high  account- 
ability. Her  influence  was  always  for  good.  She 
received,  as  she  gave,  an  unqualified  affection;  if 
she  was  a  slave,  she  at  least  was  not  a  servant,  but 
was  an  honored  member  of  the  family,  universally 
beloved,  universally  cared  for  —  "  the  Mamrnv^" 

Next  to  her  were  the  butler  and  the  carriage- 
driver.  These  were  the  aristocrats  of  the  family, 
who  trained  the  children  in  good  manners  and 
other  exercises ;  and  uncompromising  aristocrats 
they  were.  The  butler  was  apt  to  be  severe,  and 
was  feared ;  the  driver  was  genial  and  kindly,  and 
was  adored.  I  recall  a  butler,  "Uncle  Tom,"  an 
austere  gentleman,  who  was  the  terror  of  the  juniors 
of  the  connection.  One  of  the  children,  after  watch- 
ing him  furtively  as  he  moved  about  with  grand  air, 
when  he  had  left  the  room  and  his  footsteps  had 
died  away,  crept  over  and  asked  her  grandmother, 
his  mistress,  in  an  awed  whisper,  "  Grandma,  are 
you  'fraid  of  Unc'  Tom  ?  "  Perhaps  even  grandma 
stood  a  little  in  awe  of  him.  The  driver  was  the 
ally  of  the  boys,  and  consequently  had  an  ally  in 
their  mother,  the  mistress.  As  the  head  of  the 
stable,  he  was  an  important  personage  in  their 
eyes.  This  comradeship  was  never  forgot ;  it 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFOKE   THE    WAR  167 

lasted  through  life ;  the  years  might  grow  on  him, 
but  he  was  left  in  command  even  when  he  was  too 
feeble  to  hold  the  horses ;  and  to  the  end  he  was 
always  "  the  Driver  of  Mistress's  carriage." 

Other  servants  there  were  with  special  places 
and  privileges  —  gardeners  and  "boys  about  the 
house,"  comrades  of  the  boys;  and  "own  maids" 
of  the  ladies,  for  each  girl  had  her  "  own  maid  " 
—  they  all  formed  one  great  family  in  the  social 
structure  now  passed  away,  a  structure  incredible 
by  those  who  knew  it  not,  and  now,  under  new 
conditions,  almost  incredible  by  those  who  knew  it 
best. 

The  social  life  formed  of  these  elements  in  com- 
bination was  one  of  singular  sweetness  and  freedom 
from  vice.  If  it  was  not  filled  with  excitement,  it 
was  replete  with  happiness  and  content.  It  is 
asserted  that  it  was  narrow.  Perhaps  it  was.  It 
was  so  sweet,  so  charming,  that  it  is  little  wonder 
if  it  asked  nothing  more  than  to  be  let  alone. 

They  were  a  careless  and  pleasure-loving  people ; 
but,  as  in  most  rural  communities,  their  festivities 
were  free  from  dissipation.  There  was  sometimes 
too  great  an  indulgence  on  the  part  of  young  men 
in  the  State  dripk  —  the  julep ;  but  whether  it  was 
that  it  killed  early  or  that  it  was  usually  abandoned 
as  the  responsibilities  of  life  increased,  an  elderly 
man  of  dissipated  habits  was  almost  unknown. 
They  were  fond  of  sport,  and  excelled  in  it,  being 
generally  fine  shots  and  skilled  hunters.  Love  of 


168  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

horses  was  a  race  characteristic,  and  fine  horseman- 
ship was  a  thing  little  considered  only  because  it 
was  universal. 

The  life  was  gay.  In  addition  to  the  perpetual 
round  of  ordinary  entertainment,  there  was  always 
on  hand  or  in  prospect  some  more  formal  festivity 
—  a  club  meeting ;  a  fox-hunt ;  a  party ;  a  tourna- 
ment ;  a  wedding.  Little  excuse  was  needed  to 
bring  them  together  where  every  one  was  social, 
and  where  the  great  honor  was  to  be  the  host. 
Scientific  horse-racing  was  confined  to  the  regular 
race-tracks,  where  the  races  were  not  little  dashes, 
but  four-mile  heats  which  tested  speed  and  bottom 
alike.  But  good  blood  was  common,  and  a  ride  even 
with  a  girl  in  an  afternoon  generally  meant  a  dash 
along  the  level  through  the  woods,  where,  truth  to 
tell,  she  was  very  apt  to  win.  Occasionally  there 
was  even  a  dash  from  the  church.  The  high-swung 
carriages,  having  received  their  precious  loads  of 
lily-fingered,  pink-faced,  laughing  girls,  with  teeth 
like  pearls  and  eyes  like  stars,  helped  in  by  young 
men  who  would  have  thrown  not  only  their  cloaks 
but  their  hearts  into  the  mud  to  keep  those  dainty 
feet  from  being  soiled,  would  go  ahead ;  and  then, 
the  restive  saddle-horses  being  untied  from  the 
swinging  limbs,  the  young  gallants  would  mount, 
and,  by  an  instinctive  common  impulse,  starting  all 
together,  would  make  a  dash  to  the  first  hill,  on  top 
of  which  the  dust  still  lingered,  a  nimbus  thrown 
from  the  wheels  that  rolled  their  goddesses. 


169 

The  chief  sport,  however,  was  fox-hunting.  It 
was,  in  season,  almost  universal.  Who  that  lived 
in  Old  Virginia  does  not  remember  the  fox-hunts 
—  the  eager  chase  after  "grays"  or  "old  reds"! 
The  grays  furnished  more  fun,  the  reds  more  excite- 
ment. The  grays  did  not  run  so  far,  but  usually 
kept  near  home,  going  in  a  circuit  of  six  or  eight 
miles.  "  An  old  red,"  generally  so  called  irrespec- 
tive of  age,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  for  his  prowess, 
was  apt  to  lead  the  dogs  all  day,  and  might  wind 
up  by  losing  them  as  evening  fell,  after  taking  them 
in  a  dead  stretch  for  thirty  miles.  The  capture  of  a 
gray  was  what  men  boasted  of;  a  chase  after  "  an  old 
red"  was  what  they  "yarned "  about.  Some  old  reds 
became  historical  characters,  and  were  as  well  known 
and  as  much  discussed  in  the  counties  they  inhabited 
as  the  leaders  of  the  bar  or  the  crack  speakers  of  the 
circuit.  The  wiles  and  guiles  of  each  veteran  were 
the  pride  of  his  neighbors  and  hunters.  Many  of 
them  had  names.  Gentlemen  discussed  them  at 
their  club  dinners ;  lawyers  told  stories  about  them 
in  the  "  Lawyers'  Rooms "  at  the  court-houses ; 
young  men,  while  they  waited  for  the  preacher  to 
get  well  into  the  service  before  going  into  church, 
bragged  about  them  in  the  churchyards  on  Sundays. 
There  was  one  such  that  I  remember;  he  was 
known  as  "Nat  Turner,"  after  the  notorious  negro 
of  that  name,  who,  after  inciting  the  revolt  in 
Southampton  County,  in  the  year  1832,  known  as 
"  Nat  Turner's  Rebellion,"  in  which  some  fifty  per- 


170  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

sons  were  massacred,  remained  out  in  hiding  for 
weeks  after  all  his  followers  were  taken  before  he 
was  captured. 

Great  frolics  these  old  red  hunts  were ;  for  there 
were  the  prettiest  girls  in  the  world  in  the  country 
houses  around,  and  each  young  fellow  was  sure  to 
have  in  his  heart  some  brown-eyed  or  blue-eyed 
maiden  to  whom  he  had  promised  the  brush,  and  to 
whom,  with  feigned  indifference  but  with  mantling 
cheek  and  beating  heart,  he  would  carry  it  if,  as  he 
counted  on  doing,  he  should  win  it.  Sometimes  the 
girls  came  over  themselves  and  rode,  or  more  likely 
were  already  there  visiting,  and  the  beaux  followed 
them,  and  got  up  the  hunt  in  their  honor. 

Even  the  boys  had  their  sweethearts,  and  rode 
for  them  on  the  colts  or  mules :  not  the  small  girls 
of  their  own  age  (no,  sir,  no  "little  girls"  for  them) 
—  their  sweethearts  were  grown  young  ladies,  with 
smiling  eyes  and  silken  hair  and  graceful  mien, 
whom  their  grown  cousins  courted,  and  whom  they 
with  their  boys'  hearts  worshipped.  Often  a  half- 
dozen  were  in  love  with  one  —  always  the  prettiest 
one  —  and,  with  the  generous  democratic  spirit  of 
boys  in  whom  the  selfish  instinct  has  not  awakened, 
agreed  among  themselves  that  they  would  all  ride 
for  her,  and  that  whichever  of  them  got  the  brush 
should  present  it  on  behalf  of  all. 

What  a  sight  it  was !  The  appearance  of  the 
hunters  on  the  far  hill,  in  the  evening,  with  their 
packs  surrounding  them  !  Who  does  not  recall  the 


SOCIAL   LIFE  BEFOKE  THE   WAR  171 

excitement  at  the  house ;  the  arrival  in  the  yard, 
with  horns  blowing,  hounds  baying,  horses  pranc- 
ing, and  girls  laughing ;  the  picture  of  the  girls  on 
the  front  portico  with  their  arms  round  each  other's 
dainty  waists  —  the  slender,  pretty  figures,  the 
bright  faces,  the  sparkling  eyes,  the  gay  laughter 
and  musical  voices  as  they  challenged  the  riders 
with  coquettish  merriment,  demanding  to  blow  the 
horns  themselves  or  to  ride  some  specially  hand- 
some horse  next  morning !  The  way,  the  challenge 
being  accepted,  they  tripped  down  the  steps  to  get 
the  horn,  some  shrinking  from  the  bounding  dogs 
with  little  subdued  screams,  one  or  two  with  stouter 
hearts,  fixed  upon  higher  game,  bravely  ignoring 
them  and  leaving  their  management  to  their  mas- 
ters, who  at  their  approach  sprang  to  the  ground  to 
meet  them,  hat  in  hand  and  the  telltale  blood  mount- 
ing to  their  sunburned  faces,  handsome  with  the 
beauty  of  youth ! 

I  am  painfully  aware  of  the  inadequacy  of  my 
picture.  But  who  could  do  justice  to  the  truth ! 

It  was  owing  to  all  these  and  some  other  charac- 
teristics that  the  life  was  what  it  was.  It  was  on 
a  charming  key.  It  possessed  an  ampleness  and 
generosity  which  were  not  splendid  because  they 
were  refined. 

Hospitality  had  become  a  recognized  race  charac- 
teristic, and  was  practised  as  a  matter  of  course. 
It  was  universal ;  it  was  spontaneous.  It-  was  one 
of  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  civilization; 


172  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

as  much  a  part  of  the  social  life  as  any  other  of 
the  domestic  relations.  Its  generosity  secured  it 
a  distinctive  title.  The  exactions  it  entailed  were 
engrossing.  Its  exercises  occupied  much  of  the 
time,  and  exhausted  much  of  the  means.  The  con- 
stant intercourse  of  the  neighborhood,  with  its  per- 
petual round  of  dinners,  teas,  and  entertainments, 
was  supplemented  by  visits  of  friends  and  relatives 
from  other  sections,  who  came,  with  their  families, 
their  equipages,  and  personal  servants,  to  spend  a 
month  or  two,  or  as  long  a  time  as  they  pleased. 
A  dinner  invitation  was  not  so  designated.  It  was, 
with  more  exactitude,  termed  "  spending  the  day." 
On  Sundays  every  one  invited  every  one  else  from 
church,  and  there  would  be  long  lines  of  carriages 
passing  in  at  the  open  gates. 

It  is  a  mystery  how  the  house  ever  held  the 
visitors.  Only  the  mistress  knew.  Her  resources 
were  enormous.  The  rooms,  with  their  low  ceilings, 
were  wide,  and  had  a  holding  capacity  which  was 
simply  astounding.  The  walls  seemed  to  be  made 
of  india-rubber,  so  great  was  their  stretching  power. 
No  one  who  came,  whether  friend  or  stranger,  was 
ever  turned  away.  If  the  beds  were  full  —  as  when 
were  they  not!  —  pallets  were  put  down  on  the 
floor  in  the  parlor  or  the  garret  for  the  younger 
members  of  the  family,  sometimes  even  the  pas- 
sages being  utilized.  Often  children  spent  half 
their  lives  on  pallets  "made  up"  on  the  floors. 
Frequently  at  Christmas  the  master  and  mistress 


SOCIAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR  173 

were  compelled  to  resort  to  the  same  refuge,  their 
pallet  being  placed  in  the  garret. 

It  was  this  intercourse,  following  the  intermar- 
riage and  class  feeling  of  the  old  families,  which 
made  Virginians  clannish  and  caused  a  single  dis- 
tinguishable common  strain  of  blood,  however  dis- 
tant, to  be  counted  as  kinship. 

Perhaps  this  universal  entertainment  might  not 
now  be  considered  elegant ;  perhaps. 

It  was  based  upon  a  sentiment  as  pure  as  can 
animate  the  human  mind.  It  was  easy,  generous, 
and  refined.  The  manners  of  the  entertainers  and 
entertained  were  gentle,  cordial,  simple,  with,  to 
strangers,  a  slight  trace  of  stateliness. 

The  conversation  was  surprising;  it  was  of  the 
crops,  the  roads,  politics,  mutual  friends,  including 
the  entire  field  of  neighborhood  matters,  related  not 
as  gossip,  but  as  affairs  of  common  interest,  which 
every  one  knew  or  was  expected  and  entitled  to 
know.  -— • 

The  fashions  came  in,  of  course,  among  the 
ladies,  embracing  particularly  "  patterns." 

Politics  took  the  place  of  honor  among  the  gen- 
tlemen, their  range  embracing  not  only  State  and 
national  politics,  but  British  as  well,  as  to  which 
they  possessed  astonishing  knowledge,  interest  in 
English  matters  having  been  handed  down  from 
father  to  son  as  a  class  test.    "  My  father's  "  opinion      v       / 
was  quoted  as  a  conclusive  authority  on  this  and        ^* 
all  points,  and  in  matters  of  great  importance  his- 


174  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

torically  "my  grandfather,  sir,"  was  cited.  The 
peculiarity  of  the  whole  was  that  it  possessed  a  lit-__ 
erary  flavor  of  a  high  order ;  for,  as  has  been  said, 
the  classics,  Latin' ah cl  English,  with  a  fair  sprink- 
ling  of  good  old.  .French  aiUllUfs,  were  in  the  book- 
cases, and  We're  there  not  for  show,  but  for  compan- 
ionshipr~TEere  was  nothing  for  show  in  that  life ; 
it  was  all  genuine,  real,  true. 

The  great  fete  of  the  people  was  Christmas. 
Spring  had  its  special  delights :  horseback  rides 
through  the  budding  woods,  with  the  birds  singing; 
fishing  parties  down  on  the  little  rivers,  with  out- 
of-doors  lunches  and  love-making;  parties  of  various 
kinds  from  house  to  house.  Summer  had  its  pleas- 
ures :  handsome  dinners,  and  teas  with  moonlight 
strolls  and  rides  to  follow;  visits  to  or  from  rela- 
tions, or  even  to  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  called 
simply  "  the  White."  The  Fall  had  its  pleasures. 
But  all  times  and  seasons  paled  and  dimmed  before 
the  festive  joys  of  Christmas.  It  had  been  handed 
down  for  generations ;  it  belonged  to  the  race.  It 
had  come  over  with  their  forefathers.  It  had  a 
peculiar  significance.  It  was  a  title.  Religion  had 
given  it  its  benediction.  It  was  the  time  to 
"Shout  the  glad  tidings."  It  was  The  Holidays. 
There  were  other  holidays  for  the  slaves,  both  of 
the  school-room  and  the  plantation,  such  as  Easter 
and  Whit-Monday  ;  but  Christmas  was  distinctively 
"The  Holidays."  Then  the  boys  came  home  from 
school  or  college  with  their  friends ;  the  members 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFORE  THE   AVAR  175 

of  the  family  who  had  moved  away  returned; 
pretty  cousins  came  for  the  festivities ;  the  neigh- 
borhood grew  merry ;  the  negroes  were  all  to  have 
holiday,  the  house-servants  taking  turn  and  turn 
about,  and  the  plantation  made  ready  for  Christ- 
mas cheer.  It  was  by  all  the  younger  population 
looked  back  to  half  the  year,  looked  forward  to  the 
other  half.  Time  was  measured  by  it ;  it  was  either 
so  long  "since  Christmas,"  or  so  long  "before  Christ- 
mas." The  affairs  of  the  plantation  were  set  in 
order  against  it.  The  corn  was  got  in;  the  hogs 
were  killed;  the  lard  "  tried ";  sausage-meat  made; 
mince-meat  prepared;  the  turkeys  fattened,  with 
"the  old  big  gobbler"  specially  devoted  to  the 
"  Christmas  dinner  " ;  the  servants'  new  shoes  and 
winter  clothes  stored  away  ready  for  distribution ; 
and  the  plantation  began  to  be  ready  to  prepare 
for  Christmas. 

In  the  first  place,  there  was  generally  a  cold 
spell  which  froze  up  everything  and  enabled  the 
ice-houses  to  be  filled.  [The  seasons,  like  a  good 
many  other  things,  appear  to  have  changed  since 
the  war.]  This  spell  was  the  harbinger;  and 
great  fun  it  was  at  the  ice-pond,  where  the  big 
rafts  of  ice  were  floated  along,  with  the  boys  on 
them.  The  rusty  skates  with  their  curled  runners 
and  stiff  straps  were  got  out,  and  maybe  tried  for 
a  day.  Then  the  stir  began.  The  wagons  all  were 
put  to  hauling  wood  —  hickory ;  nothing  but  hick- 
ory now;  other  wood  might  do  for  other  times,  but 


176  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

at  Christmas  only  hickory  was  used;  and  the 
wood-pile  was  heaped  high  with  the  logs ;  while  to 
the  ordinary  wood-cutters  "for  the  house"  were 
added  three,  four,  a  half-dozen  more,  whose  shining 
axes  rang  around  the  wood-pile  all  day  long.  With 
what  a  vim  they  cut,  and  how  telling  was  that 
"  Ha'nh ! "  as  they  drove  the  ringing  axes  into  the 
hard  wood,  sending  the  big  white  chips  flying !  It 
was  always  the  envy  of  the  boys,  that  simultaneous, 
ostentatious  expulsion  of  the  breath,  and  they  used 
vainly  to  try  to  imitate  it. 

In  the  midst  of  it  came  the  wagon  or  the  ox-cart 
from  "the  depot,"  with  the  big  white  boxes  of 
Christmas  things,  the  black  driver  feigning  hypo- 
critical indifference  as  he  drove  through  the  chop- 
pers to  the  storeroom.  Then  came  the  rush  of  all 
the  wood-cutters  to  help  him  unload;  the  jokes 
among  themselves,  as  they  pretended  to  strain  in 
lifting,  of  what  "master"  or  "mistis"  was  going  to 
give  them  out  of  those  boxes,  uttered  just  loud 
enough  to  reach  their  master's  or  mistress's  ears 
where  they  stood  looking  on,  while  the  driver  took 
due  advantage  of  his  temporary  prestige  to  give 
many  pompous  cautions  and  directions. 

The  getting  the  evergreens  and  mistletoe  was 
the  sign  that  Christmas  had  come,  was  really  here. 
There  were  the  parlor  and  hall  and  dining-room, 
and,  above  all,  the  old  church,  to  be  "dressed." 
The  last  was  a  neighborhood  work ;  all  united 
in  it,  and  it  was  one  of  the  events  of  the  year. 


SOCIAL  LIFE  BEFORE  THE  WAR  177 

Young  men  rode  thirty  and  forty  miles  to  "  help  " 
dress  that  church.  They  did  not  go  home  again 
till  after  Christmas.  The  return  from  the  church 
was  the  beginning  of  the  festivities. 

Then  by  "Christmas  Eve's  eve"  the  wood  was 
all  cui  and  stacked  high  in  the  wood-house  and  on 
and  under  the  back  porticos,  so  as  to  be  handy, 
and  secure  from  the  snow  which  was  almost  certain 
to  come.  Then  came  the  snow.  It  seems  that 
Christmas  was  almost  sure  to  bring  it  in  old  times  ; 
at  least  it  is  closely  associated  with  it.  The  excite- 
ment increased ;  the  boxes  were  unpacked,  some  of 
them  openly,  to  the  general  delight,  others  with  a 
mysterious  secrecy  which  stimulated  the  curiosity 
to  its  highest  point  and  added  to  the  charm  of  the 
occasion.  The  kitchen  filled  up  with  assistants 
famed  for  special  skill  in  particular  branches  of  the 
cook's  art,  who  bustled  about  with  glistening  faces 
and  shining  teeth,  proud  of  their  elevation  and  eager 
to  add  to  the  general  cheer. 

It  was  now  Christmas  Eve.  From  time  to  time  the 
"  hired  out "  servants  came  home  from  Richmond 
or  other  places  where  they  had  been  hired  or  had 
hired  out  themselves,  their  terms  having  been  by 
common  custom  framed,  with  due  regard  to  their 
rights  to  the  holiday,  to  expire  in  time  for  them  to 
spend  the  Christmas  at  home.1  There  was  much  hi- 
larity over  their  arrival,  and  they  were  welcomed 
like  members  of  the  family  as,  with  their  new  winter 

1  The  hiring  contracts  ran  from  New  Year  to  Christmas. 


178  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

clothes  donned  a  little  ahead  of  time,  they  came  to 
pay  their  "  bespec's  to  master  and  mistis." 

Then  the  vehicles  Avent  off  to  the  distant  station 
for  the  visitors  —  for  the  visitors  and  the  boys. 
Oh,  the  excitement  of  that!  the  drag  of  the  long 
hours  at  first,  and  then  the  eager  expectancy  as  the 
time  approached  for  their  return ;  the  "  making  up  " 
of  the  fires  in  the  visitors'  rooms  (of  the  big  fires ; 
there  had  been  fires  there  all  day  "to  air"  them, 
but  now  they  must  be  made  up  afresh)  ;  the  hurry- 
ing backwards  and  forwards  of  the  servants;  the 
feverish  impatience  of  every  one,  especially  of  the 
children,  who  are  sure  the  train  is  late  or  that 
something  has  happened,  and  who  run  and  "look 
up  towards  the  big  gate "  every  five  minutes,  not- 
withstanding the  mammy's  oft-repeated  caution 
that  a  "watch'  pot  never  b'iles."  There  was  an 
exception  to  the  excitement:  the  mistress,  calm, 
deliberate,  unperturbed,  moved  about  with  her 
usual  serene  composure,  her  watchful  eye  seeing 
that  everything  was  "  ready  "  (her  orders  had  been 
given  and  her  arrangements  made  days  before, 
such  was  her  system).  The  girls,  having  finished 
dressing  the  parlor  and  hall,  had  disappeared.  Sat- 
isfied at  last  with  their  work,  aft°r  innumerable 
final  touches,  every  one  of  which  was  an  undeniable 
improvement  to  that  which  already  appeared  per- 
fect, they  had  suddenly  vanished  —  vanished  as 
completely  as  a  dream  —  to  appear  again  later  on 
at  the  parlor  door,  radiant  visions  of  loveliness, 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFORE   THE    WAR  179 

or,  maybe,  if  certain  unlooked-for  visitors  unex- 
pectedly arrived,  to  meet  accidentally  in  the  less  em- 
barrassing and  safer  precincts  of  the  dimly  lighted 
passages.  When  they  appeared,  what  a  transforma- 
tion had  taken  place !  If  they  were  bewitching 
before,  now  they  were  entrancing.  The  gay,  laugh- 
ing, saucy  creature  who  had  been  dressing  the 
parlors  and  hanging  the  mistletoe  with  many  jests 
and  parries  of  the  half-veiled  references  was  now  a 
demure  or  stately  maiden  in  all  the  dignity  of  a 
new  gown  and  with  all  the  graciousness  of  a  young 
countess. 

But  this  is  after  the  carriages  return.  They 
have  not  yet  come.  They  are  late  —  they  are  al- 
ways late  —  and  it  is  dark  before  they  come ;  the 
glow  of  the  fires  and  candles  shines  out  through 
the  windows  on  the  snow,  often  blackened  by  the 
shadows  of  little  figures  whose  noses  are  pressed  to 
the  panes,  which  grow  blurred  with  their  warm 
breath.  Meantime  the  carriages,  piled  up  outside 
and  in,  are  slowly  making  their  way  homeward 
through  the  frozen  roads,  followed  by  the  creaking 
wagon  filled  with  trunks,  on  which  are  perched 
several  small  muffled  figures,  whose  places  in  the 
carriages  are  taken  by  unexpected  guests.  The 
drivers  still  keep  up  a  running  fire  with  their  young 
masters,  though  they  have  long  since  been  pumped 
dry  by  "  them  boys "  as  to  every  conceivable 
matter  connected  with  "home,"  in  return  for  which 
they  receive  information  as  to  school  and  college 


180  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

pranks.  At  last  the  "  big  gate  "  is  reached ;  a  half- 
frozen  figure  rolls  out  and  runs  to  open  it,  flapping 
his  arms  in  the  darkness  like  some  strange,  uncanny 
bird;  they  pass  through;  the  gleam  of  a  light 
shines  away  off  on  a  far  hill.  The  shout  goes  up, 
"  There  she  is ;  I  see  her ! "  The  light  is  lost,  but 
a  little  later  appears  again.  Tt  is  the  light  in  the 
mother's  chamber,  the  curtains  of  the  windows  of 
which  have  been  left  up  intentionally,  that  the  wel- 
coming gleam  may  be  seen  afar  off  by  her  boys  on 
the  first  hill  —  a  blessed  beacon  shining  from  home 
and  her  mother's  heart. 

Across  the  white  fields  the  dark  vehicles  move, 
then  toil  up  the  house  hill,  filled  with  their  eager 
occupants,  who  can  scarce  restrain  themselves;  ap- 
proach the  house,  by  this  time  glowing  with  lighted 
windows,  and  enter  the  yard  just  as  the  doors  open 
and  a  swarm  rushes  out  with  joyful  cries  of,  "  Here 
they  are  !  "  "  Yes,  here  we  are  ! "  comes  in  cheery 
answer,  and  one  after  another  they  roll  or  step  out, 
according  to  age  and  dignity,  and  run  up  the  steps, 
stamping  their  feet,  the  boys  to  be  taken  fast  into 
motherly  arms,  and  the  visitors  to  be  given  warm 
handclasps  and  cordial  welcomes. 

Later  on  the  children  were  got  to  bed,  scarce  able 
to  keep  in  their  pallets  for  excitement ;  the  stock- 
ings were  all  hung  up  over  the  big  fireplace;  and 
the  grown  people  grew  gay  in  the  crowded  par- 
lors. Mark  you,  there  was  no  splendor,  nor  show, 
nor  style  as  it  would  be  understood  now.  Had 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFORE   THE   WAP,  181 

there  been,  it  could  not  have  been  so  charming. 
There  were  only  profusion  and  sincerity,  hearti- 
ness and  gayety,  fun  and  merriment,  cordiality 
and  cheer,  and  withal  genuineness  and  refinement. 

Next  morning  before  light  the  stir  began. 
White-clad  little  figures  stole  about  in  the  gloom, 
with  bulging  stockings  clasped  to  their  bosoms, 
opening  doors,  shouting  "  Christmas  gift ! "  into 
dark  rooms  at  sleeping  elders,'  and  then  scurrying 
away  like  so  many  white  mice,  squeaking  with 
delight,  to  rake  open  the  embers  aud  inspect  their 
treasures.  At  prayers,  "  Shout  the  glad  tidings  " 
was  sung  by  fresh  young  voices  with  due  fervor. 

How  gay  the  scene  was  at  breakfast !  What 
pranks  had  been  performed  in  the  name  of  Santa 
Claus !  Every  foible  had  been  played  on.  What 
lovely  telltale  blushes  and  glances  and  laughter 
greeted  the  confessions  !  The  larger  part  of  the  day 
was  spent  in  going  to  and  coming  from  the  beauti- 
fully dressed  church,  where  the  service  was  read, 
and  the  anthems  and  hymns  were  sung  by  every- 
body, for  every  one  was  happy. 

But,  as  in  the  beginning  of  things,  "  the  evening 
and  the  morning  were  the  first  day."  Dinner  was 
the  great  event.  It  was  the  test  of  the  mistress 
and  the  cook,  or,  rather,  the  cooks ;  for  the  kitchen 
now  was  full  of  them.  It  is  impossible  to  describe 
it.  The  old  mahogany  table,  stretched  diagonally 
across  the  dining-room,  groaned;  the  big  gobbler 
filled  the  place  of  honor;  a  great  round  of  beef 


182  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

held  the  second  place ;  an  old  ham,  with  every 
other  dish  that  ingenuity,  backed  by  long  expe- 
rience, could  devise,  was  at  the  side,  and  the  shin- 
ing sideboard,  gleaming  with 'glass,  scarcely  held 
the  dessert.  The  butler  and  his  assistants  were 
supernaturally  serious  and  slow,  which  bespoke 
plainly  too  frequent  a  recourse  to  the  apple-toddy 
bowl;  but,  under  stimulus  of  the  mistress's  eye, 
they  got  through  all  right,  and  their  slight  un- 
steadiness was  overlooked. 

It  was  then  that  the  fun  began. 

After  dinner  there  were  apple-toddy  and  egg- 
nogg,  as  there  had  been  before. 

There  were  games  and  dances  —  country  dances, 
the  lancers  and  quadrilles.  The  top  of  the  old 
piano  was  lifted  up,  and  the  infectious  dancing- 
tunes  rolled  out  under  the  flying  fingers.  There 
was  some  demur  on  the  part  of  the  elder  ladies, 
who  were  not  quite  sure  that  it  was  right ;  but  it 
was  overruled  by  the  gentlemen,  and  the  master  in 
his  frock  coat  and  high  collar  started  the  ball  by 
catching  the  prettiest  girl  by  the  hand  and  leading 
her  to  the  head  of  the  room  right  under  the  noses 
of  half  a  dozen  bashful  lovers,  calling  to  them 
meantime  to  "  get  their  sweethearts  and  come  along." 
Round  dancing  was  not  yet  introduced.  It  was 
regarded  as  an  innovation,  if  nothing  worse.  It 
was  held  generally  as  highly  improper,  by  some  as 
"  disgusting."  As  to  the  german,  why,  had  it  been 
known,  the  very  name  would  have  been  sufficient 


SOCIAL   LIFE   BEFORE   THE    WAR  183 

to  damn  it.  Nothing  foreign  in  that  civilization ! 
There  was  fun  enough  in  the  old-fashioned  country 
dances,  and  the  "Virginia  reel"  at  the  close;  who- 
ever could  not  be  satisfied  with  that  was  hard  to 
please. 

There  were  the  negro  parties,  where  the  ladies 
and  gentlemen  went  to  look  on,  the  suppers  hav- 
ing been  superintended  by  the  mistresses,  and  the 
tables  being  decorated  by  their  own  white  hands. 
There  was  almost  sure  to  be  a  negro  wedding  dur- 
ing the  holidays.  The  ceremony  might  be  per- 
formed in  the  dining-room  or  in  the  hall  by  the 
master,  or  in  a  quarter  by  a  colored  preacher ;  but 
it  was  a  gay  occasion,  and  the  dusky  bride's  trous- 
seau had  been  arranged  by  her  young  mistress,  and 
the  family  was  on  hand  to  get  fun  out  of  the  enter- 
tainment. 

Other  weddings  there  were,  too,  sometimes  fol- 
lowing these  Christmas  gayeties,  and  sometimes 
occurring  "  just  so,"  because  the  girls  were  the  love- 
liest in  the  world,  and  the  men  were  lovers  almost 
from  their  boyhood.  How  beautiful  our  mothers 
must  have  been  in  their  youth  to  have  been  so 
beautiful  in  their  age ! 

There  were  no  long  journeys  for  the  young  mar- 
ried folk  in  those  times ;  the  travelling  was  usually 
done  before  marriage.  When  a  wedding  took  place, 
however,  the  entire  neighborhood  entertained  the 
young  couple. 

Truly  it  was  a  charming  life.     There  was  a  vast 


184  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

waste ;  but  it  was  not  loss.  Every  one  had  food, 
every  one  had  raiment,  every  one  had  peace.  There 
was  not  wealth  in  the  base  sense  in  which  we  know 
it  and  strive  for  it  and  trample  down  others  for  it 
now.  But  there  was  wealth  in  a  good  old  sense  in 
which  the  litany  of  our  fathers  used  it.  There 
was  weal.  There  was  the  best  of  all  wealth ;  there 
was  content,  and  "a  quiet  mind  is  richer  than  a 
crown." 

We  have  gained  something  by  the  change.  The 
South  under  her  new  conditions  will  grow  rich,  will 
wax  fat;  nevertheless  we  have  lost  much.  How 
much  only  those  who  knew  it  can  estimate;  to 
them  it  was  inestimable. 

That  the  social  life  of  the  Old  South  had  its 
faults  I  am  far  from  denying.  What  civilization 
has  not  ?  But  its  virtues  far  outweighed  them ; 
its  graces  were  never  equalled.  For  all  its  faults, 
it  was,  I  believe,  the  purest,  sweetest  life  ever  lived. 
It  has  been  claimed  that  it  was  non-productive,  that 
it  fostered  sterility.  Only  ignorance  or  folly  could 
make  the  assertion.  It  largely  contributed  to  pro- 
duce this  nation ;  it  led  its  armies  and  its  navies ;  it 
established  this  government  so  firmly  that  not  even 
it  could  overthrow  it ;  it  opened  up  the  great  West ; 
it  added  Louisiana  and  Texas,  and  more  than  trebled 
our  territory ;  it  christianized  the  negro  race  in  a 
little  over  two  centuries,  impressed  upon  it  regard 
for  order,  and  gave  it  the  only  civilization  it  has 
ever  possessed  since  the  dawn  of  history.  It  has 


SOCIAL   LIFE  BEFORE  THE   WAR  185 

maintained  the  supremacy  of  the  Caucasian  race, 
upon  which  all  civilization  seems  now  to  de- 
pend. It  produced  a  people  whose  heroic  fight 
against  the  forces  of  the  world  has  enriched  the 
annals  of  the  human  race  —  a  people  whose  forti- 
tude in  defeat  has  been  even  more  splendid  than 
their  valor  in  war.  It  made  men  noble,  gentle,  and 
brave,  and  women  tender  and  pure  and  true.  It 
may  have  fallen  short  in  material  development  in 
its  narrower  sense,  but  it  abounded  in  spiritual 
development ;  it  made  the  domestic  virtues  as  com- 
mon as  light  and  air,  and  filled  homes  with  purity 
and  peace. 

It  has  passed  from  the  earth,  but  it  has  left  its 
benignant  influence  behind  it  to  sweeten  and  sus- 
tain its  children.  The  ivory  palaces  have  been 
destroyed,  but  myrrh,  aloes,  and  cassia  still  breathe 
amid  their  dismantled  ruins. 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL   PLACES 
OLD  YOEKTOWN   AND   OLD  ROSEWELL 


TWO   OLD  COLONIAL   PLACES 


.    OLD  YORKTOWN 

ONE  hundred  years  ago,  the  eyes  of  a  few  colonies 
along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  were  turned  anxiously 
toward  "Little  York,"  a  small  town  in  Virginia,  sit- 
uated on  the  curve  of  York  River,  in  Indian  days 
the  great  "Pamunkee,"  just  above  where  its  white 
current  mingles  with  the  green  waters  of  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  There  was  being  fought  the  death 
struggle  between  Great  Britain  and  her  revolution- 
ary colonies,  —  between  the  Old  and  the  New. 

Affairs  had  assumed  a  gloomy  aspect.  The  army 
of  the  South  had  been  defeated  and  driven  back  into 
Virginia,  barely  escaping  annihilation  by  forced 
inarches,  and  by  the  successful  passage  of  the  deep 
rivers  which  intersect  the  country  through  which  it 
retreated;  Virginia,  the  backbone  of  the  Revolution, 
had  been  swept  by  two  invasions ;  and  Cornwallis 
with  his  victorious  army  was  marching  trium- 
phantly through  her  borders,  trying  by  every  means 
he  could  devise  to  bring  his  only  opponent,  a  young 
French  officer,  to  an  engagement.  Had  "  the  boy," 

189 


190  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

Lafayette,  proved  as  reckless  as  the  British  com- 
mander believed  him,  the  end  would  have  come  be- 
fore De  G-rasse  with  his  fleet  anchored  in  the  Chesa- 
peake. He  was,  however,  no  boy  in  the  art  of  war, 
and  at  length  Cornwallis,  wearied  of  trying  to  catch 
him,  retired  to  York,  and  intrenching  himself, 
awaited  re-enforcements  from  the  North.  Just  at 
this  time,  Providence  directed  the  French  admiral 
to  the  Virginia  coast,  and  the  American  commauder- 
in-chief,  finding  himself  suddenly  possessed  of  a 
force  such  as  he  had  never  hoped  for  in  his  wildest 
dreams,  and  knowing  that  he  could  count  on  the  new 
re-enforcements  for  only  a  few  weeks,  determined  to 
put  his  fate  to  the  touch,  and  win  if  possible  by  a 
coup  de  main.  With  this  end  in  view,  he  withdrew 
from  New  York,  and  came  down  to  Jersey  as  if  to 
get  near  his  ovens,  a  move  which  misled  the  British 
commander,  who  knew  that  a  good  meal  was  a  suffi- 
cient inducement  to  carry  the  hungry  American 
troops  farther  than  that,  and  did  not  suspect  the 
ulterior  object  until  he  learned  that  Washington 
was  well  on  his  way  to  Virginia.  In  the  last  days 
of  September,  the  colonial  general  arrived  before 
York  and  threw  the  die.  Before  the  end  of  three 
weeks,  the  British  troops  marched  out  with  cased 
colors,  prisoners  of  war.  The  details  of  the  sur- 
render included  an  act  of  poetic  retribution.  When 
General  Lincoln  had,  not  long  before,  surrendered 
at  Charleston  to  Cornwallis,  the  British  marquis 
appointed  an  inferior  officer  to  receive  his  sword; 


TWO   OLD  COLONIAL   PLACES  191 

this  affront  General  Washington  now  avenged  by 
appointing  General  Lincoln  to  receive  Cornwallis's 
sword. 

When  the  British  prime  minister  received  the 
intelligence  of  the  surrender,  he  threw  up  his 
hands,  exclaiming,  "  My  God !  it  is  all  over ! " 
And  it  was  all  over  —  America  was  free. 

A  hundred  years  have  passed  by  since  that  time, 
and  with  natural  pride  the  people  of  these  United 
States  are  preparing  to  celebrate  the  centennial  an- 
niversary of  the  great  event  which  secured  their  in- 
dependence. Once  more  the  little  sleepy  Virginia 
town,  which  has  for  a  century  lain  as  if  under  a 
spell,  awakes  with  a  start  to  find  itself  the  centre  of 
interest. 

Had  the  siege  of  Yorktown  taken  place  a  dozen 
centuries  ago,  the  assailants,  instead  of  hammering 
the  fortifications  down  as  fast  as  they  were  repaired, 
might  have  been  forced  to  wait  until  the  grim  ally, 
starvation,  compelled  the  besieged  to  capitulate. 
Even  at  this  day  the  place  gives  evidence  of  its 
advantages  as  a  fortified  camp.  High  ramparts  and 
deep  fosses,  which  might  have  satisfied  a  Roman 
consul,  surround  it  on  three  sides,  and  on  the  fourth 
is  a  precipitous  bluff  above  the  deep,  wide  York 
which  could  be  defended  by  a  handful.  These  forti- 
fications, however,  have  not  come  down  from  the 
Eevolution ;  they  bear  witness  to  a  later  strife.  Ma- 
gruder  began  them  in  those  early  days  of  1861,  when 
each  side  thought  the  Civil  War  sport  for  a  summer 


192  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

holiday ;  and  later  on,  when  the  magnitude  of  the 
struggle  was  understood,  McClellan  strengthened 
them.  Together  with  the  few  antique  brick  build- 
ings with  massive  walls  and  peaked  roofs,  which 
have  survived  the  assaults  of  three  successive  wars, 
and  of  that  more  insidious  destroyer,  Time,  they 
give  the  place  the  impressiveness  of  an  old  walled 
town.  All  new  ways  and  things  seem  to  have  been 
held  at  bay. 

The  town  is  about  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
years  old.  It  looks  much  older,  but  repeated  wars 
have  an  aging  effect. 

Its  founder  was  Thomas  Nelson,  a  young  settler 
from  Penrith,  on  the  border  of  Scotland,  who  was 
for  that  reason  called  "  Scotch  Tom."  His  father 
was  a  man  of  substance  and  position  in  Cumberland 
and  was  a  warden  of  the  church  in  Penrith.  The 
warden's  son  Thomas  looking  to  the  New  World  to 
enlarge  his  fortune,  after  making  one  or  two  trips 
across,  finally  settled  at  the  mouth  of  York  River. 
Here  he  married  Margaret  Reid,  and  soon  became 
one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the  colony.  His 
dwelling,  known  as  the  "  Nelson  House,"  still  stands, 
with  its  lofty  chimneys  and  solid  walls  —  tower- 
ing among  the  surrounding  buildings ;  an  endur- 
ing pre-eminence  which  would  probably  have  grat- 
ified the  pride  which  tradition  says  moved  him 
to  have  the  corner-stone  passed  through  the  hands 
of  his  infant  heir.  The  massive  door  and  small 
windows,  with  the  solid  shutters,  look  as  if  the 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL  PLACES  193 

house  had  been  constructed  more  with  a  view  to 
defence  than  to  architectural  grace.  Within,  every- 
thing is  antique ;  modern  paint  has  recently,  with 
doubtful  success,  if  not  propriety,  attempted  to 
freshen  up  the  old  English  wainscoting;  but  the 
old-time  air  of  the  place  cannot  be  banished.  Mem- 
ory grows  busy  as  she  walks  through  the  lofty 
rooms  and  recalls  the  scenes  they  have  witnessed. 
Here,  in  "  ye  olden  tyme,"  dwelt  a  race  which  grew 
to  wealth  and  power  noted  even  in  that  age,  when 
the  mere  lapse  of  years,  opening  up  the  broad,  wild 
lands  to  the  westward,  and  multiplying  the  slaves, 
doubled  and  quadrupled  their  possessions  without 
care  or  thought  of  the  owners.  Here,  in  this  home 
of  the  Nelsons,  have  been  held  receptions  at  which 
have  gathered  Grymeses,  Digges,  Custises,  Carys, 
Elands,  Lees,  Carters,  Randolphs,  Burwells,  Pages, 
Byrds,  Spottswoods,  Harrisons,  and  all  the  gay 
gentry  of  the  Old  Dominion.  Up  the  circular 
stone  steps,  where  now  the  dust  of  the  street  lies 
thick,  blushing,  laughing  girls  have  tripped,  fol- 
lowed by  stately  mammas,  over  whose  precious 
heads  the  old-time  "  canopies  "  were  held  by  careful 
young  lovers,  or  lordly  squires  whose  names  were 
to  become  as  imperishable  as  the  great  Declaration 
which  they  subscribed.  Coming  down  to  a  later 
period,  a  more  historical  interest  attaches  itself  to 
the  mansion.  George  Mason  and  Washington  and 
Jefferson  have  slept  here ;  Cornwallis  established 
his  headquarters  here  during  the  last  days  of  the 


194  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

great  siege,  when  his  first  headquarters,  Secretary 
Nelson's  house,  had  been  shelled  to  pieces.  Even 
here  the  guns  aimed  by  the  master  of  the  mansion, 
then  Governor  of  Virginia  and  commander-in-chief 
of  her  forces,  reached  him  as  the  splintered  rafters 
and  the  solid  shot  stuck  in  the  wall  testify.  La- 
fayette, no  longer  the  boyish  adventurer  with  a  mind 
wild  with  romantic  dreams  of  the  Cid,  and  chased 
like  a  fugitive  by  his  sovereign,  but  the  honored 
and  revered  guest  of  a  mighty  nation,  returning  in 
his  old  age  to  witness  the  greatness  of  the  New 
World  toward  which  his  valor  had  so  much  con- 
tributed, slept  here  and  added  another  to  the  many 
associations  which  already  surrounded  the  mansion. 
Thomas  Nelson,  having  built  his  house,  died  and 
was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  the  old  church. 
His  handsome  tomb  is  one  of  the  two  antique  mon- 
uments which,  in  spite  of  war  and  weather,  still 
remain  notable  relics  of  old  York.  It  stands  in 
the  uninclosed  common  near  the  old  church  on  the 
bluff,  not  a  stone's  throw  from  the  centre  of  the 
town.  On  the  four  sides,  cherubs'  faces,  elaborately 
carved,  look  forth  from  clouds.  Once,  a  crown  was 
being  placed  on  the  head  of  one ;  another,  trumpet 
in  mouth,  was  proclaiming  "All  glory  to  God," 
but  the  ascription  under  the  wear  and  tear  of  time 
has  disappeared.  The  weather  and  the  vandal  have 
marred  and  wasted  the  carving;  but  enough  yet 
remains  to  show  that  on  it  some  excellent  sculptor 
used  his  utmost  skill.  The  coat  of  arms  on  the  top 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL   PLACES  195 

shows  the  fleur  de  Us  as  his  crest,  while  the  in- 
scription and  heraldic  insignia  declare  the  founder 
of  Yorktown  to  have  been  a  "  gentleman."  At  his 
feet,  beneath  a  less  imposing  tomb,  lies  Scotch  Tom's 
eldest  son,  William  Nelson,  called  "President" 
Nelson  from  his  having  been  president  of  the  King's 
Council,  and  as  such,  during  an  interregnum,  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony.  At  his  feet,  in  turn,  sleeps, 
in  an  unmarked  grave,  the  president's  eldest  son, 
General  Thomas  Nelson,  the  most  illustrious  of  the 
race,  the  mover  in  the  great  Virginia  Convention  of 
1776  of  the  resolution  first  instructing  her  dele- 
gates in  Congress  to  move  that  body  to  declare  the 
colonies  free  and  independent  States; — signer  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  war  governor  of 
Virginia,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  that  body 
of  great  men  who  stand,  a  splendid  galaxy,  in  the 
firmament  of  our  nation's  history. 

"The  old  store,"  which  for  two  generations 
yielded  the  Nelsons  a  harvest  of  golden  guineas, 
stood  on  the  open  space  now  called  "  the  common." 
It  survived  the  siege,  but  was  destroyed  in  the  War 
of  1812.  The  custom-house,  however,  where  their 
goods  were  entered,  still  stands  a  score  of  yards  off, 
with  moss-covered,  peaked  roof,  thick  walls,  and 
massive  oaken  doors  and  shutters.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  notable  relics  of  York,  for  it  is  said  to  have 
been  one  of  the  first  custom-houses  erected  in  Amer- 
ica. In  the  colonial  period,  it  was  the  fashionable 
rendezvous  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  town  and  sur- 


196  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

rounding  country.  There  the  young  bucks  in  vel- 
vet and  ruffles  gathered  to  talk  over  the  news  or  to 
plan  new  plots  of  surprising  a  governor  or  a  lady- 
love. It  was  there  that  the  haughty  young  aristo- 
crats, as  they  took  snuff  and  fondled  their  hounds, 
probably  laughed  over  the  story  of  how  that  young 
Washington,  who  had  thought  himself  good  enough 
for  anybody,  had  courted  pretty  Mary  Gary,  and 
had  been  asked  out  of  the  house  by  the  old  colonel, 
on  the  ground  that  his  daughter  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  ride  in  her  own  coach.  There  it  was 
doubtless  told  how  Tom  Jefferson,  leaving  his 
clients  and  studies  on  the  Eivanna,  had  come  back 
to  try  his  fate  at  Becky  Burwell's  dainty  feet, 
and  had  been  sent  off  for  much-needed  consolation 
to  his  old  friend  and  crony,  John  Page,  who  had 
just  induced  little  Frances,  her  cousin,  to  come  and 
be  mistress  of  Rosewell.  Sometimes  graver  topics 
were  discussed  there;  as,  whether  the  Metropoli- 
tan's license  and  the  recommendation  of  the  gov- 
ernor were  sufficient  to  override  the  will  of  the  ves- 
tries in  fixing  an  obnoxious  rector  in  the  parishes; 
whether  Great  Britain  had  a  right  to  a  monopoly 
of  the  colonial  trade,  or  whether  she  could  lawfully 
prevent  them  inhibiting  the  landing  of  slaves  in 
their  ports,  with  other  questions  which  showed  the 
direction  of  the  popular  mind. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  fitter  illustration  of 
the  old  colonial  Virginia  life  than  that  which  this 
little  town  affords.  It  was  a  typical  Old  Dominion 


TWO    OLD   COLONIAL   PLACES  19  ( 

borough,  and  was  one  of  the  eight  boroughs  into 
which  Virginia  was  originally  divided.  One  or  two 
families  owned  the  place,  ruling  with  a  sway  despotic 
in  fact,  though  in  the  main  temperate  and  just,  for 
the  lower  orders  were  too  dependent  and  inert  to 
dream  of  thwarting  the  "  gentlefolk,"  and  the  South- 
erner when  uncrossed  was  ever  the  most  amiable  of 
men.  If  there  were  more  than  one  great  family,  they 
nevertheless  got  on  amicably,  for  they  had  usually 
intermarried  until  their  interests  were  identical. 

Nearly  all  the  "  old  "  families  in  the  colony  were 
allied,  and  the  clannish  instinct  was  as  strong  as 
among  the  Scotch.  The  ambition  of  the  wealthy 
families  in  the  colony,  perhaps  more  than  the 
usually  accepted  aristocratic  instinct,  excluded  from 
the  circle  all  who  did  not  come  up  to  their  some- 
what difficult  standard.  Government  was  their 
passion,  and  everything  relating  to  it  interested 
them.  It  was  the  only  matter  which  excited  them, 
and  every  other  feeling  took  its  tone  from  this.  It 
influenced  them  in  all  their  relations,  domestic  as 
well  as  public.  Even  and  smooth  as  seemed  the  tem- 
perament of  the  nonchalant,  languid  Virginian, — 
not  splenitive  or  rash,  —  yet  had  it  in  it  something 
dangerous.  His  political  opinions  were  sacred  to 
him ;  he  had  inherited  them  from  his  father,  whom 
he  regarded  as  the  impersonation  of  wisdom  and  vir- 
tue. To  oppose  them  roused  him  at  once,  and  made 
him  intolerant  and  violent.  He  could  not  brook 
opposition.  The  feeling  has  not  altogether  dis- 


198  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

appeared  even  at  the  present  day.  Yet,  singular  as 
it  may  seem,  with  this  existed  the  deeply  ingrained 
love  of  liberty  and  devotion  to  principle  from  which 
sprang  the  constitutional  securities  of  liberty  of 
speech,  freedom  of  the  press,  the  right  to  bear  arms, 
and  the  statute  of  religious  freedom. 

In  York,  the  Nelson  family  was  the  acknowledged 
leader  in  county  affairs.  President  Nelson  had 
sent  his  eldest  son,  Tom,  when  a  lad  of  fourteen, 
to  Eton,  where  he  was  a  desk-mate  of  Charles  James 
Fox,  and  afterward  to  Cambridge,  where  he  was 
graduated  with  some  distinction.  The  style  in 
which  the  president  of  the  Council  lived  is  ex- 
hibited by  the  casual  remark,  in  a  letter  written  to 
a  friend  who  was  in  charge  of  this  son,  that  he  had 
just  bought  Lord  Baltimore's  six  white  coach-horses, 
and  meant  to  give  his  own  six  black  ones  a  run  in 
his  Hanover  pastures.  In  1761,  the  young  squire 
came  home ;  and  it  shows  the  influence  of  his  family 
that,  while  yet  on  his  voyage  across,  he  was  returned 
as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  About 
a  year  afterwards,  he  married  Lucy  Grymes,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Colonel  Philip  Grymes,  of 
Brandon,  in  Middlesex.  The  Grymeses  enjoyed 
the  reputation  of  being  the  cleverest  family  in  the 
Dominion.  Little  Lucy  was  a  cousin  of  Light- 
Horse  Harry  Lee  and  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  An 
old  MS.  states  that  the  latter  was  one  of  her  many 
lovers,  but  the  story  appears  to  lack  confirmation, 
as  the  lady  denied  it  even  in  after  years. 


TWO   OLD  COLONIAL    PLACES  199 

During  the  years  that  followed,  York  maintained 
her  position  as  an  influential  borough  in  the  direc- 
tion of  affairs.  When  the  crisis  came,  Secretary 
Thomas  Nelson,  "the  President's"  younger  brother, 
was  at  the  head  of  the  moderate  party.  He  received 
in  the  Convention  forty-five  votes  for  Virginia's 
first  governor,  but  was  beaten  by  Patrick  Henry. 
He  was,  however,  put  in  the  Privy  Council.  The 
Marquis  de  Chastillux  gives  a  pretty  picture  of  the 
old  gray-haired  gentleman  being  brought  out  of 
York  under  a  flag  of  truce  by  his  two  sons,  officers 
in  Washington's  army.  His  nephew  and  namesake, 
Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  was  one  of  the  leaders -of  the 
\iltra  patriots,  and  with  his  cousin  and  connection, 
Dudley  Digges,  took  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the 
early  revolutionary  action  of  the  State,  that  Captain 
Montague,  the  commander  of  the  British  ship  Fowey, 
threatened  to  bombard  York.  The  manifestation 
of  the  Virginians'  anger  took  a  singular  turn,  which 
at  the  same  time  shows  the  nai've  character  of  the 
old  Virginia  gentry.  They  solemnly  resolved  that 
this  officer's  action  had  been  so  inhuman  that  he 
should  not  be  further  recognized  as  a  gentleman.  It 
is  possible  that  however  determined  the  men  were 
not  to  recognize  Captain  Montague,  the  women 
were  less  resolute,  as  he  was  remarkable  for  his 
great  personal  beauty,  —  so  remarkable,  indeed, 
that  it  was  said  Lord  Dunmore's  daughter,  Lady 
Augusta  Murray,  who  afterward  married  the  Duke 
of  Sussex,  and  who  was  herself  declared  to  be  the 


200  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

handsomest  woman  in  the  three  kingdoms,  used  to 
repeat  at  the  end  of  each  verse  in  the  136th  Psalm, 
whenever  it  occurred  in  the  church  service : 

Praise  Montague,  Captain  of  the  Fowey, 
For  his  beauty  endureth  forever. 

Dudley  Digges,  young  Nelson's  colleague  in  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  was  a  member  of  the  Privy 
Council,  and  of  the  Committee  of  Safety.  He  was 
the  worthy  lineal  descendant  of  that  brave  Sir 
Dudley  who  flung  at  Charles  the  First's  powerful 
and  insolent  favorite,  Buckingham,  the  retort,  "  Do 
you  jeer,  my  lord  ?  I  can  show  you  where  a  greater 
man  than  your  lordship,  as  high  in  power,  and  as 
deep  in  the  king's  favor,  has  been  hanged  for  as 
small  a  crime  as  these  articles  contain." 

Such  was  York,  the  patriotic  little  Virginia  town 
into  which  Cornwallis  retired  in  the  summer  of 
1781,  when  he  received  orders  from  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  to  intrench  himself  on  the  coast  and  await 
instructions.  At  this  time  it  boasted  among  its  citi- 
zens the  governor  of  the  State,  for  young  Nelson 
had  attained  the  highest  dignity  in  Virginia.  He 
had  been  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  great  move- 
ment which  had  separated  the  colonies  from  the 
mother  country.  He  had  been  a  conspicuous  mem- 
ber of  all  the  great  conventions.  He  had  made  the 
motion  in  committee  of  the  whole  in  May,  1776,  that 
Virginia  should  instruct  her  delegates  in  Congress 
to  try  and  induce  that  body  to  declare  the  United 


TWO  OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES  201 

Colonies  free  and  independent  States  ;  he  had  him- 
self carried  this  instruction  to  Philadelphia;  he  had, 
as  one  of  Virginia's  delegates,  signed  the  great 
Declaration ;  and  now  he  had  been  chosen  to  take 
the  chief  control  of  the  State,  and,  with  almost  dic- 
tatorial powers,  to  manage  both  her  military  and  civil 
polity.  "  His  popularity  was  unbounded,"  says  the 
historian.  Certainly  his  patriotism  was.  The  father 
of  a  modern  English  statesman,  speaking  of  his 
son's  free-trade  views,  said  he  might  be  exalting  the 
nation,  but  he  was  ruining  his  family.  The  same 
criticism  might  have  been  passed  on  General  Nel- 
son's administration.  His  patriotism  was  of  a 
nature  that  now  strikes  one  as  rather  antique. 
When  money  was  wanted  to  pay  the  troops  and 
run  the  government,  Virginia's  credit  was  low,  but 
the  governor  was  told  that  he  could  have  plenty 
on  his  personal  security,  so  he  borrowed  the  sum 
needed,  and  went  on;  when  regiments  mutinied 
and  refused  to  march,  the  governor  simply  drove 
over  to  Petersburg,  raised  the  money  on  his  indi- 
vidual credit,  and  paid  them  off.  Consequently, 
when  the  war  closed,  what  old  George  Mason 
declared  he  would  be  willing  to  say  his  nunc  dl- 
mittis  on,  viz.  the  heritage  to  his  children  of  a  crust 
of  fcread  and  liberty,  had  literally  befallen  Governor 
Nelson. 

When  it  was  discovered  that  Cornwallis  was 
marching  on  York,  the  feelings  of  the  inhabitants 
were  doubtless  not  enviable.  Arnold  had  not  long 


202  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

before  swept  over  the  State,  with  a  traitor's  rancor, 
leaving  red  ruin  in  his  track.  Colonel  Tarleton, 
Cornwallis's  lieutenant,  had  procured  for  himself 
a  not  very  desirable  reputation,  having  an  eye  for  a 
good  horse  and  a  likely  negro,  and  a  conscience  not 
over  scrupulous  about  the  manner  of  obtaining  them. 
Arnold  was  so  much  dreaded  that,  when  he  was 
expected  to  fall  on  York,  Mrs.  Nelson,  the  gen- 
eral's wife,  with  her  young  children,  fled  to  the 
upper  country.  On  this  occasion  it  was  that  Jimmy 
Ridout,  the  carriage  driver,  in  emulation  of  Cacus, 
had  his  horses  shod  at  night  with  the  shoes  reversed, 
so  that  if  they  were  followed  their  pursuers  might 
be  misled.  When  Cornwallis  marched  on  York, 
Mrs.  Nelson  once  more  set  out  for  her  upper  plan- 
tations in  Hanover. 

Cornwallis,  expecting  additional  forces  from  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  fortified  himself  in  York.  His  let- 
ter to  his  chief,  conveying  the  announcement  of  his 
surrender,  declares  that  he  never  saw  this  post  in  a 
very  favorable  light,  and  nothing  but  the  hope  of  re- 
lief would  have  induced  him  to  attempt  its  defence. 
This  letter  gave  mortal  offence  to  the  superior  offi- 
cer, who  was  sensible  of  the  justice  of  the  grave 
charge  so  delicately  conveyed.  He  had  sacrificed  his 
subordinate  and  the  last  chances  of  Great  Britain. 

Strolling  over  the  green  fields  at  present,  it  requires 
an  effort  to  picture  the  scenes  they  witnessed  one 
hundred  years  ago.  There  are  fortifications  still 
standing,  green  with  blackberry  bushes  and  young 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL   PLACES  203 

locusts,  but  they  tell  of  a  more  recent  strife ;  the 
Revolutionary  earthworks  have  totally  disappeared, 
except  on  "  Secretary's  Hill,"  where  formerly  stood 
Secretary  Nelson's  fine  house,  in  which  Cornwallis 
first  established  his  headquarters.  A  few  signs 
are  still  discernible  there,  due  to  the  possible  fact 
that  his  lordship  had  his  headquarters  protected 
by  works  of  unusual  strength.  If  this  be  the 
explanation,  the  precaution  proved  futile,  for  when 
it  was  known  in  the  Revolutionary  camp  that  it 
was  the  British  commander's  headquarters,  the 
house  was  made  their  special  mark,  and  was  almost 
demolished.  The  butler  was  killed  in  the  act  of 
placing  a  dish  on  the  dinner-table. 

Outside  the  town,  there  are  several  spots  which 
may  be  accurately  fixed.  Up  the  river,  on  the  rise 
beyond  the  small,  dull  stream,  to  the  left  of  the 
Williamsburg  road  going  out,  were  posted  the 
French  batteries  —  the  regiments  of  Touraine,  Age- 
nois,  and  Gatinois  —  the  Royal  Auvergne  —  "Au- 
vergne  sanstache."  On  the  creek,  a  little  nearer  the 
town,  fell  Scammel  on  the  first  day  of  the  siege, 
treacherously  shot  in  the  back  after  he  had  surren- 
dered, which  "  cast  a  gloom  over  the  camp."  His 
death  was  avenged  afterward  by  his  troops,  as  they 
charged  over  the  redoubts  with  the  battle-cry,  "  Re- 
member Scammel ! "  Below  the  town,  on  the  other 
side,  the  redoubts  were  stormed  and  taken  at  night 
by  the  picked  troops  of  the  French  and  American 
armies.  The  short  grass  now  grows  smooth  over 


204  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

the  spot  where  the  Koyal  Auvergne  won  back  their 
lost  name  and  fame ;  but  as  we  stand  where  they 
stood  that  night  with  empty  guns,  panting  to  use  the 
bayonet,  steadfast  though  their  ranks  were  being 
mowed  down  in  the  darkness,  we  feel  stirred  as 
though  it  had  all  occurred  but  yesterday.  Mean- 
time the  American  stormers  of  the  other  redoubt, 
led  by  the  dashing  young  Colonel  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, had  plunged  through  the  abatis  and  gained 
their  prize.  What  a  speech  that  must  have  been 
which  the  young  officer  made  his  men  as  he  halted 
them  under  the  walls ! 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  such  a  speech  ?  "  asked  one 
officer  of  another.  "With  that  speech  I  could 
storm  hell!" 

The  striking  incidents  of  the  siege  were  not  very 
numerous.  It  was  a  steady  and  un receding  ad- 
vance on  one  side  and  retrogression  on  the  other ; 
but  this  particular  night  was  somewhat  noted  for 
its  romantic  episodes.  When  Hamilton,  arrived 
inside  his  redoubt,  sent  to  inform  the  French  leader 
of  the  other  storming  party  of  the  fact  and  to  in- 
quire if  he  was  in  his,  "No,  but  I  will  be  in  five 
minutes,"  he  answered,  and  he  kept  his  word.  Many 
a  blue  lapel  was  stained  with  heart  blood ;  but  their 
king  wrote  with  his  own  hand,  "  Bon  pour  Royal 
Auvergne"  and  posterity  says,  Amen !  They  died 
not  in  vain.  •"  The  work  is  done  and  well  done," 
said  Washington,  when  the  signal  was  given  that 
the  redoubts  were  won. 


TWO   OLD  COLONIAL   PLACES  205 

A  few  days  before  this  eventful  night,  the  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  who  was  present  in  person,  com- 
manding the  Virginia  State  forces,  had  displayed 
his  patriotism  by  an  act  which  attracted  much 
attention.  Observing  that  his  own  house  within 
the  town  had  escaped  injury  from  the  shells,  he 
learned  that  General  Washington  had  given  orders 
that  the  gunners  should  not  aim  at  it.  He  im- 
mediately had  a  gun  turned  on  it,  and  offered  a 
prize  of  five  guineas  to  the  gunner  who  should 
strike  it. 

Three-quarters  of  a  mile  back  of  the  two  captured 
redoubts,  and  outside  of  the  first  parallel,  stood, 
and  still  stands,  an  old  weather-board  and  weather- 
stained  mansion.  Its  antique  roof,  its  fireplaces 
set  across  the  corners,  and  its  general  old-time  air, 
even  a  hundred  years  ago,  bespoke  for  it  reverence 
as  a  relic  of  a  long  bygone  age.  It  was  historical 
even  then,  for  it  had  been  the  country  residence  of 
Governor  Spottswood,  who  had  been  the  great 
Marlborough's  aide-de-camp,  and  the  best  royal  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony.  He  had  come,  bringing  his 
virtues  and  his  graces,  to  the  Old  Dominion,  and 
had  in  the  quaint  old  house  on  the  river  bank  held 
his  mimic  court,  forming  royal  plans  for  the  devel- 
opment of  the  kingly  domain  he  ruled,  entertaining 
his  knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe,  drinking 
healths  which  amaze  even  this  not  over  temperate 
generation.  He  established  the  first  iron  foundry 
ever  erected  on  American  soil. 


206  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

Hither  his  body  was  brought  from  Maryland, 
where  he  died.  But  one  hundred  years  ago,  to  the 
many  associations  connected  with  the  old  house 
was  added  one  which  to  this  generation  dwarfs  all 
others.  In  its  sitting-room  were  drawn  up  the 
articles  of  capitulation  of  the  British  army,  by 
which  was  ended  the  strife,  and  the  colonies  be- 
came free  and  independent  States.  Imagination 
almost  always  paints  in  high  colors  the  scene  of 
any  great  act  in  the  world's  drama,  but  a  milder 
and  more  peaceful  picture  can  scarcely  be  conceived 
than  that  which  this  spot  now  presents.  The  house 
was  owned  at  the  time  of  the  surrender  by  Mrs. 
Moore,  "  Aunt  Moore,"  as  she  was  called  by  nearly 
all  the  people  of  York.  It  is  now  unoccupied,  and 
the  cellar  has  been  utilized  as  a  stable.  About  it 
the  mild-eyed  Alderneys  browse  the  white  clover,  or 
gaze  sleepily  at  the  unwonted  pilgrim.  The  river 
sleeps  just  beyond,  in  the  summer  sunshine,  with 
a  single  white  sail  set  like  a  pearl  on  its  bosom. 
The  spot  looks  an  "ancient  haunt  of  peace,"  but  war 
has  stalked  about  it  since  first  the  English  came. 
The  peaceful-looking  hedges  beyond  the  old  orchard, 
and  on  the  bluff,  are  breastworks  overgrown  with 
bushes.  The  great  Civil  War,  the  War  of  1812, 
and  the  Revolution,  all  have  passed  over  these 
green,  quiet  fields ;  and  yonder  in  the  "  Temple " 
lies  the  relic  of  a  still  older  strife  —  the  grave  of  a 
soldier  who  had  won  his  laurels  and  lain  down  his 
sword  long  before  Sir  Alexander  Spottswood  earned 


TWO  OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES      207 

his  spurs  at  Blenheim.  A  mystery  of  more  ancient 
date  than  the  Revolution  hangs  about  the  spot, 
and  is  associated  with  the  name.  Some  authorities 
state  that  Governor  Spottswood  built  a  temple  of 
worship  here,  whence  came  the  name  of  the  planta- 
tion, "Temple  Farm  "  ;  but  the  Temple  is  doubtless 
of  older  date  than  this  account  would  make  us  be- 
lieve. The  more  probable  explanation  is  that  the 
building,  whose  foundations  alone  remain  at  present, 
was  erected  in  the  early  days  of  the  colony.  The 
double  walls,  one  within  the  other,  give  credit  to 
the  story  that  it  was  so  built  for  defence  against 
the  Indians,  and  the  date  on  Major  Gooch's  tomb, 
October,  1655,  corroborates  it.  The  tomb  of  the 
royal  governor  has  long  since  disappeared.  A  frag- 
ment of  Major  Gooch's  epitaph  remains.  It  reads : 

Within  this  tomb  there  doth  interred  lie, 
No  shape  but  substance,  true  nobility, 
Itself  though  young  in  years,  just  twenty-nine, 
Yet  grac'd  with  virtues  morall  and  divine, 
The  church  from  him  did  good  participate. 
In  counsel!  rare  fit  to  adorn  a  state. 

Could  the  young  soldier  have  had  a  fitter  resting- 
place  or  a  better  epitaph  ? 

Right  below  the  Temple  sleeps  Wormley's 
Creek,  with  its  myriad  water-lilies  resting  on  its 
tranquil  breast;  and  not  a  hundred  yards  above 
stands  the  modern  successor  to  the  mill,  where  the 
first  shot  in  the  siege  was  fired.  The  old  structure 


208  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

has  disappeared,  but  the  old  customs  still  remain. 
Here,  twice  a  week,  on  Tuesdays  and  Fridays  (for  it 
takes  three  days  to  "catch  a  head  of  water  "),  come 
the  negroes  and  country  folk,  bringing  their  "  turns  " 
of  corn,  some  in  bags  on  their  heads,  or,  if  they  are 
of  larger  means  and  appetites,  in  little  carts  with 
generally  a  single  bull  harnessed  in  the  shafts. 
The  established  rule  of  "  each  in  his  turn  "  prevails, 
and  they  wait  patiently,  sometimes  the  livelong 
day,  until  their  time  comes.  They  are  not  in  a 
hurry ;  for  a  hundred  years  this  same  life  has 
gone  on  as  placid  and  serene  as  the  stream  down 
among  the  "cow  collards";  to  hurry  would  be  to 
violate  the  most  ancient  and  time-honored  tradition 
of  the  fathers. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  "Little  York"  never  re- 
covered from  its  bombardment.  The  scene  in  the 
street  to-day  is  an  idyl,  —  a  few  massive  old  brick 
houses  scattered  among  modern  shanties  like  so 
many  old-time  gentlemen  at  a  modern  ward-meet- 
ing ;  a  couple  of  negro  children  kicking  up  the  dust 
in  the  street  a  hundred  yards  away ;  two  citizens 
sitting  under  an  awning  "  resting,"  and  a  small  ox- 
cart moving  uncertainly  nearer,  as  the  little  brindled 
bull  in  the  shafts  browses  the  short  grass  on  the 
side  of  the  street.  The  most  lively  things  in  sight 
are  a  small  boy  and  the  string  of  fish  he  is  carry- 
ing ;  for  the  latter  have  just  come  from  the  water 
and  are  still  fluttering.  Such  is  the  scene  now  pre- 
sented in  the  street  where  a  hundred  years  ago 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL   PLACES  209 

anxious  red-coats  double-quicked  along  or  stole 
sullenly  by,  trying  to  shelter  themselves  from  the 
searching  messengers  from  the  batteries  out  on  the 
heights  beyond  the  creeks. 

The  Nelson  house  still  remains  in  the  family; 
but  to  the  Nelsons,  peace  came  with  poverty ;  the 
governor's  vast  estate  went  for  his  public  debts. 
He  gave  the  whole  of  it.  When  a  question  arose 
in  the  Virginia  Convention  as  to  the  confiscation  of 
British  claims,  he  stopped  the  agitation  by  rising 
in  his  seat,  and  declaiming,  "  Others  may  do  as  they 
please ;  but  as  for  me,  I  am  an  honest  man,  and  so 
help  me  God  !  I  will  pay  my  debts."  Years  after- 
ward, Virginia  did  tardy  and  partial  justice  to  the 
memory  of  Nelson's  great  services  by  placing  his 
statue  among  the  group  of  her  great  ones  in  her 
beautiful  Capitol  Square;  and,  in  company  with 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Marshall,  Henry,  Mason, 
and  Lewis,  he  stands  in  bronze  tendering  the  bonds 
with  his  outstretched  hands,  in  perpetuam  rei  me- 
moriam.  No  recompense,  however,  was  ever  made 
to  the  family  for  the  vast  sums  Governor  Nelson 
had  expended,  and  his  widow,  once  the  wealthiest 
woman  in  the  colony,  was  left  blind  in  her  old  age, 
with  only  one  piece  of  property,  her  children's 
mammy.  Some  forty  or  fifty  years  after  his  death, 
evidence  of  his  great  losses  was  collected  for  the 
purpose  of  applying  to  Congress  for  compensation ; 
but  a  bill  being  brought  in  meantime  for  the  relief 
of  the  widow  of  the  young  colonel  who  made  the 


210  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

speech  to  his  storming  party  that  night  under  the 
walls  of  the  redoubt  at  Yorktown,  and  who  had 
rendered  besides  some  other  small  services  to  the 
country,  a  member  asked  if  there  were  no  poor- 
houses  in  New  York,  that  Mrs.  Hamilton  came 
begging  to  Congress ;  and  after  that,  one  of  Gov- 
ernor Nelson's  sons,  who  was  in  Congress  at  the 
time,  refused  to  proceed  further  in  the  matter,  de- 
claring that  he  would  not  permit  his  mother's  name 
to  be  brought  before  a  body  which  tolerated  such  a 
speech . 

It  seems  extraordinary  that,  after  only  a  hundred 
years,  much  doubt  exists  as  to  the  actual  spot  where 
the  British  laid  down  their  arms.  Immediately 
after  the  surrender,  Congress  enacted  that  a  suit- 
able monument  should  be  erected  there,  to  tell  the 
story  to  succeeding  generations.  But  all  things 
concerning  Yorktown  sleep,  and  the  memorial  was 
neglected  until  the  very  spot  was  forgotten.  There 
was  built  up,  however,  a  mighty  nation,  zealous  for 
liberty, 

Monumentum  aere  perennius 
Regalique  situ  pyramidum  altius. 

This  was,  to  use  the  closing  words  of  the  articles 
of  Cornwallis's  capitulation,  "  done  in  the  trenches 
before  Yorktown,  in  Virginia,  October  19th,  1781." 


II 

ROSEWELL 

As  York,  the  territory  of  the  Nelsons,  witnessed 
the  last  act  in  Virginia's  colonial  drama,  so  Kose- 
well,  the  seat  of  the  Pages,  saw  the  first  act.  The 
places  are  only  a  few  miles  apart,  but  are  separated 
by  the  York  River. 

Taking  a  small  boat  at  the  Yorktown  pier,  you 
may,  by  promising  an  extra  quarter,  wake  the  leth- 
argic boatman  into  positive  activity,  and  get  under 
way  to  Gloucester  Point  in  something  under  a  half- 
hour.  Your  boatman,  as  black  as  Charon,  rows  with_ 
a  deliberation  which  would  gratify,  vnn  if  -Cross- 
ing tneStyj^  You  are  apt  to  question  him  about 
the  surrender.  Oh,  yes !  he  knows  all  about  it. 
If  his  immediate  predecessor,  "Old  Unc'  Felix," 
who  was  gathered  last  fall  to  his  fathers  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five  years,  and  whose  funeral  sermon  was 
preached  last  Sunday,  were  alive,  he  would  have 
assured  you  that  he  remembered  all  about  the  siege 
of  Yorktown,  and  waited  on  both  Generals  Wash- 
ington and  Cornwallis. 

After  a  while  you  reach  Gloucester  Point,  liter- 
ally a  "  point,"  and  tread  the  ground  invested  by 

211 


212  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

Weedon,  De  Choisy,  and  the  dashing,  bragging  De 
Lauzun. 

A  ride  of  a  few  miles  up  the  river  bank  brings 
you  to  an  old  place  called  Shelly,  once  a  part  of 
the  Rosewell  estate,  and  still  owned  by  Governor 
Page's  descendants.  However  appropriate  the 
name  may  seem,  in  view  of  the  great  beds  of  shell 
down  on  the  river  bank,  it  does  not  call  up  the 
associations  connected  with  the  name  borne  by  the 
place  in  colonial  days  —  "  Werowocomoco."  Next 
to  Jamestown,  this  plantation  is  perhaps  the  spot 
most  celebrated  in  the  colonial  annals  of  Virginia. 
It  was  here  that  Powhatan  reigned  like  Egbert  of 
old,  with  kings,  less  poetic  but  not  more  savage,  to 
pull  his  canoe.  Between  his  wives,  his  enemies, 
and  his  English  friends,  the  old  Werowance  had  a 
hard  time.  Doubtless  he  found  much  consolation 
in  his  oysters.  And  judging  from  the  mounds  of 
oyster-shells,  those  Indians  must  have  had  royal  ap- 
petites. It  was  at  this  place  that  the  most  romantic 
incident  of  Virginia's  history  occurred,  when  the 
little  tender-hearted  Indian  maiden,  touched  with 
pity  for  an  intrepid  young  captive,  prayed  in  vain 
for  his  life,  and  then  flung  herself  beneath  the 
executioners'  axes  and  clasped  the  victim  in  her 
arms,  risking  her  own  life,  but  saving  John  Smith 
and  the  colony  of  Virginia. 

Other  memories  cluster  around  the  place :  of  the 
ghastly  decorations  of  Payanketank  scalps ;  the 
ballet  dance  of  Indian  nymphs  attired  in  the  most 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL   PLACES  213 

ancient  of  recorded  costumes ;  the  coronation  of  old 
Powhatan,  who  with  royal  instinct  refused  to  stoop 
while  the  crown  was  placed  on  his  head.  The 
whole  place  is  quick  with  memories. 

It  has  always  been  my  opinion  that  the  world 
has  not  done  justice  to  Captain  John  Smith.  He 
deserves  to  be  ranked  with  the  greatest  explorers 
of  all  time.  At  the  age  of  thirty  he  had  left  the 
Virginias  and  returned  to  England,  having  accom- 
plished what  Raleigh,  with  all  his  wealth,  power, 
and  zeal,  could  not  do.  Well  might  the  old  chron- 
icles call  him  "the  Father  of  the  Colony."  Had 
the  die  turned  differently  on  the  spot  where  we 
now  stand,  Virginia  might  have  lain  a  hundred 
years  more  a  wilderness  and  a  waste  place,  and  the 
destinies  of  the  world  have  been  different.  Until  a 
few  years  ago  one  might  have  said  of  "  oure  Cap- 
taine  "  as  the  Spartan  said  to  a  Sophist  offering  to 
deliver  a  eulogy  on  Hercules  —  "  Why,  who  has 
ever  blamed  Hercules?"  But  of  late  the  wise 
critics  have  attacked  him  virulently.  Here,  how- 
ever, is  what  was  said  of  him  by  one  who  had 
shared  his  dangers : 

"  What  shall  I  say  but  thus ;  we  lost  him  that  in 
all  his  proceedings  made  justice  his  first  guide  and 
experience  his  second,  ever  hating  baseness,  sloath, 
pride  and  indignitie  more  than  any  dangers ;  that 
never  allowed  more  for  himselfe  than  his  souldiers 
with  him ;  that  upon  no  dangers  would  send  them 
where  he  would  not  lead  them  himselfe ;  that  would 


214  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

never  see  vs  want  what  he  either  had,  or  could  by 
any  means  get  vs ;  that  would  rather  want  then  bor- 
row, or  starve  then  not  pay ;  that  loved  action  more 
then  words,  and  hated  falshood  and  covetousness 
worse  than  death ;  whose  adventures  were  our  lives, 
and  whose  losse  our  deaths." 

A  few  miles  below  here  on  the  bluff  the  Powha- 
tan's  Chimney,  the  sole  remaining  relic  of  the 
royalty  of  the  old  Indian  king.  It  stood  until  a 
few  years  ago,  when  owing  to  our  shameful  neglect 
of  all  things  historical,  it  fell  and  now  it  lies 
prone.  It  had  the  honor  of  being  built  by  Cap- 
tain Smith,  and  was  erected  on  the  requisition  of 
the  Emperor  for  "a  house,  a  grind-stone,  fifty 
swords,  some  guns,  a  cock  and  hen,  with  much 
copper  and  many  beads."  The  fireplace  is  wide 
enough  to  roast  an  ox,  and  there  is  grave  sus- 
picion that  it  has  served  to  roast  other  cattle  — 
Payanketank  rebels  and  the  like.  All  this  land 
about  here  was  a  part  of  the  old  Page  estate,  Rose- 
well.  Away  to  the  left  it  stretches,  taking  in  all 
of  Timber  Neck,  which  came  to  the  Pages  in  1690 
with  Mary  Mann,  whom  Matthew  Page  married. 

That  broad  stream  down  there  is  Carter's  Creek. 
There  it  was  that  Powhatan  and  his  people  used  to 
land  in  pre-colonial  days,  and  brown  canoes,  driven 
by  dark  warriors  or  dusky  maidens,  shot  in  and  out. 
Later  on,  in  the  spring  evenings,  white-winged  sail- 
boats, with  proud-faced  dames  and  portly,  ruddy 
gentlemen,  or  with  laughing  girls  in  rich  attire,  and 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL   PLACES  215 

gay  young  gallants,  glided  to  and  fro,  now  drifting 
wide  apart,  now  near  together,  side  by  side,  amid 
mirth  and  shouts  and  laughter. 

Across  the  creek,  a  hundred  yards,  stands  Rose- 
well,  the  ancient  Page  mansion,  massive,  stark,  and 
lonely,  a  solid  cube  of  ninety  feet.  Once  it  had  long 
colonnades  and  ample  wings,  the  ruins  of  which  latter 
yet  stand,  and  it  was  flanked  by  great  and  numer- 
ous out-buildings  —  stables,  barns,  warehouses,  and 
negro  quarters.  All  have  vanished  before  the  years, 
and  nothing  is  left  except  the  stately  old  mansion. 

When  it  was  built  in  1725-30,  it  was  the  largest 
mansion  in  Virginia,  and  continued  such  for  many 
years.  Indeed,  there  are  but  few  as  large  now. 
The  great  hall  was  wainscoted  with  mahogany, 
and  the  balustrade  of  the  grand  stairway,  also 
of  mahogany,  was  beautifully  carved  by  hand  to 
represent  baskets  of  fruit,  flowers,  etc.  The  roof 
over  the  windows  was  originally  covered  with  lead, 
but  during  the  Revolution  it  was  stripped  off  for 
bullets  by  its  master,  the  fiery  patriot,  John  Page, 
who  presented  the  lead  to  the  State  and  was 
hardly  persuaded  at  last  to  receive  for  it  even  con- 
tinental money.  The  letter  of  Edmund  Pendleton 
regarding  it  is  still  in  existence.  The  master  of 
Eosewell  came  out  of  the  war  with  broken  for- 
tunes, his  large  plantations  going  one  after  another 
to  pay  his  debts.  Shortly  after  his  death,  the 
place  was  sold  for  twelve  thousand  dollars  to  a 
man,  who  after  making  a  fortune  by  selling  every- 


216  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

thing  he  could  sell,  from  the  trees  on  the  lawn  to 
the  wainscoting  in  the  hall,  sold  the  place,  stripped 
and  denuded  as  it  was,  at  a  large  advance.  The 
vandal  not  only  sold  the  bricks  around  the  grave- 
yard, and  the  fine  old  cedars  in  the  avenue,  but  what 
was  even  worse,  whitewashed  the  superb  carved 
mahogany  wainscoting  and  balustrade.  Once  again 
it  is  in  the  hands  of  gentlefolk. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Thomas  Jefferson,  while 
absent  from  his  seat  in  Congress  in  1775-76,  spent 
some  time  at  this  house,  in  reflection  and  study, 
crystallizing  into  worthy  expression  those  principles 
which  he  was  shortly  afterward  to  set  forth  in  the 
"  Great  Declaration."  It  is  said  that  he  then  sub- 
mitted his  rough  draft  of  that  great  paper  to  his 
friend  John  Page  before  it  was  seen  by  any  one 
else,  and  when  independence  was  no  more  than  a 
possibility.  There  was  then  a  summer-house  on 
the  roof,  and  the  place  where  it  stood  is  pointed 
out  as  the  spot  where  the  paper  was  read  and  dis- 
cussed. There  is,  perhaps,  nothing  to  substantiate 
the  legend,  except  that  it  has  always  been  one  of 
the  traditions  of  the  house. 

The  founder  of  the  Page  family  in  Virginia  was 
"  Collonel  John  Page,"  who,  thinking  that  a  princi- 
pality in  Utopia  might  prove  better  than  an  acre 
in  Middlesex,  where  he  resided,  came  over  in  1656. 
He  came  from  the  pretty  little  village  of  Bedfont, 
Middlesex,  where  the  Pages  had  for  generations 
been  lords  of  the  small  manor  of  Pate,  and  where 


TWO   OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES  217 

they  lie  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  quaint  little 
Norman  church.  He  was  a  literary  man,  and  in 
his  latter  days  wrote  a  book  of  religious  medita- 
tions which  he  dedicated  to  his  son.  It  was  entitled 
"A  Deed  of  Gift,"  and  is  written  in  the  quaint  and 
earnest  style  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  shows 
him  to  have  been  a  man  of  no  mean  ability  and  of 
deep  piety.  He  gave  the  land  on  which  is  built  the 
old  church  in  Williamsburgh,  and  a  fragment  of  his 
tombstone  recording  his  virtues  used  to  lie  across 
the  walk  doing  service  as  a  paving  flag  until  a  few 
years  ago,  when  it  was  removed  by  a  pious  descend- 
ant to  the  interior  of  the  church,  and  a  monument 
was  erected  to  his  memory.  He  had  an  eye  for 
"  bottom-land,"  and  left  his  son  Matthew  an  im- 
mense landed  estate,  which  he  dutifully  increased 
by  marrying  Mary  Mann,  the  rich  heiress  of  Tim- 
ber Neck.  Their  son,  Mann,  was  a  lad  thirteen 
years  old  when  his  father  died.  After  being  sent 
to  Eton,  he  came  back  and  took  his  place  at  the 
"Council  Board,"  as  his  fathers  had  done  before 
him  and  his  descendants  did  after  him. 

Mann  Page  built  the  Eosewell  mansion.  The 
bricks  and  material  were  all  brought  from  England, 
and  the  stately  pile  grew  slowly  under  the  Virginia 
sun  to  be  a  marvel  of  pride  and  beauty  for  that 
time.  The  long  inscription  upon  the  tomb  "  piously 
erected  to  his  memory  by  his  mournfully  surviving 
lady  "  presents  a  complete  biography  of  Mann,  who, 
together  with  his  pride,  possessed  the  independence, 


218  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

the  dignity,  and  the  virtue  so  often  found  combined 
in  the  old  colonial  gentleman.  He  possessed  the 
colonial  instinct,  and  fought  the  tax  which  the  home 
government  wished  to  place  on  tobacco.  The  tradi- 
tion is  that  he  died  just  as  he  completed  the  man- 
sion, and  that  the  first  time  the  house  was  used 
was  when  his  body  was  laid  out  in  the  great  hall. 
The  three  surviving  sons  of  Mann  were  Mann,  John, 
and  Kobert,  who  became  the  heads  respectively  of 
the  Rosewell,  the  North  End,  and  the  Broadneck 
branches  of  the  family.  The  eldest  son,  John,  was 
a  most  ardent  patriot,  and  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  hanged  if  General  Washington  had  surren- 
dered to  Cornwallis,  instead  of  the  latter  to  him. 
He  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were  at  William  and 
Mary  College  together,  and  that  closest  of  bonds,  a 
college  friendship,  commenced  there  and  lasted 
throughout  their  lives.  As  college  students,  they 
together  stood  at  the  door  of  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, and,  looking  in,  heard  Patrick  Henry  ring 
out  his  famous  warning  to  George  III.  From  that 
time,  the  two  young  men  were  rebels,  and  their 
views  were  of  the  most  advanced  order.  There  re- 
main a  number  of  rattling  "  college-boy "  letters 
which  passed  between  the  cronies  at  a  time  when 
the  light  of  the  world,  to  them,  were  "  Nancy's  " 
and  "  Belinda's  "  eyes,  and  Fame's  siren  voice  had 
not  sounded  in  their  ears.  In  a  letter  bearing  date 
Christmas  Day,  1762,  Jefferson,  frozen  up  in  his 
Albemarle  home,  wrote  his  friend : 


TWO  OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES      219 

"  You  cannot  conceive  the  satisfaction  it  would 
give  me  to  have  a  letter  from  you.  Write  me 
circumstantially  everything  which  happened  at  the 
wedding.  Was  she  there  ?  Because,  if  she  was,  I 
ought  to  have  been  at  the  devil  for  not  being  there 
too." 

The  "  she "  alluded  to  was  his  ladylove,  Miss 
Rebecca  Burwell.  The  letter  goes  on : 

"Tell  Miss  Alice  Corbin  that  I  verily  believe 
the  rats  knew  I  was  to  win  a  pair  of  garters  from  her, 
or  they  never  would  have  been  so  cruel  as  to  carry 
mine  away.  This  very  consideration  makes  me  so 
sure  of  the  bet  that  I  shall  ask  everybody  I  see 
from  that  part  of  the  world  what  pretty  gentleman 
is  making  his  addresses  to  her.  I  would  fain  ask 
Miss  Becca  Burwell  to  give  me  another  watch  paper 
of  her  own  cutting,  which  I  should  esteem  much 
more,  though  it  were  a  plain  round  one,  than  the 
nicest  in  the  world  cut  by  other  hands." 

A  few  weeks  later,  he  writes  to  his  friend  a 
mournful,  woful  epistle,  like  that  of  any  other  love- 
lorn swain.  After  inveighing  against  the  dulness 
of  his  life,  he  says : 

"  How  have  you  done  since  I  saw  you  ?  How 
did  Nancy  look  at  you  when  you  danced  with  her 
at  Southall's  ?  Have  you  any  glimmering  of  hope  ? 
How  does  E.  B.  do  ?  Had  I  better  stay  here  and 
do  nothing,  or  go  down  and  do  less  ?  Or,  in  other 
words,  had  I  better  stay  here  while  I  am  here  or  go 
down,  that  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  sailing  up  the 


220  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

river  again  in  a  full-rigged  flat  ?  Inclination  tells 
me  to  go,  receive  my  sentence,  and  be  no  longer  in 
suspense ;  but  reason  says,  if  you  go,  and  your  at- 
tempt proves  unsuccessful,  you  will  be  ten  times 
more  wretched  than  ever.  ...  I  hear  that  Ben  Harri- 
son has  been  to  Wilton.  Let  me  know  his  success." 

Ben  Harrison's  success  at  Wilton,  where  he  was 
courting  Anne  Randolph,  a  cousin  of  both  Jefferson 
and  Page,  was  greater  than  that  of  either  the  writer 
of  the  letter  with  "  R.  B."  or  of  the  recipient  with 
"Nancy."  Miss  Anne,  after  leading  her  lover  a 
reasonable  dance,  married  him,  and  had  the  honor  of 
being  the  wife  of  a  governor  of  Virginia.  "  Nancy ;' 
and  "  Little  Becky  "  might  themselves  have  sat  in 
even  higher  places  than  they  did  sit  in  had  they 
only  smiled  a  little  more  on  their  lovers.  Cupid, 
however,  lacks  the  gift  of  prophecy ;  and  Fame  will 
not  tell  her  secrets  till  the  time  comes,  for  the 
sweetest  lips  that  ever  smiled. 

Young  Page,  having  failed  with  Nancy,  found 
consolation  at  the  feet  of  his  sweet  cousin,  Frances 
Burwell,  daughter  of  Colonel  Burwell  of  Carter's 
Creek,  and  the  niece  of  President  and  Secretary 
Nelson.  When  quite  a  young  man  he  became  a 
member  of  the  King's  Council  and  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  College,  and  represented  that  insti- 
tution in  the  General  Assembly. 

When  the  storm  came,  Page,  although  the  young- 
est member  of  the  King's  Council,  was  the  head  of 
the  Republican  element  in  the  Council.  He  repre- 


TWO  OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES      221 

sented  Gloucester  in  the  Great  Convention,  was 
elected  president  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  that  had  control 
of  the  Virginia  forces.  He  served  as  a  colonel  in 
the  army.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  first  Con- 
gress, and  continued  a  representative  from  Virginia 
for  eight  years,  and  until,  as  he  said,  John  Adams 
and  Alexander  Hamilton  shut  him  out. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  culture  as  well  as  of  large 
wealth.  His  classical  library  was  probably  as  fine 
as  any  in  the  colonies ;  and  he  was,  for  his  time,  a 
man  of  scientific  attainments.  His  calculations  of 
eclipses  still  exist,  and  it  indicates  the  spirit  of  the 
period,  that  he  made  them  not  for  Virginia,  but 
"  for  Rose  well."  He  was  a  stanch  Republican,  and 
the  selection  of  Virginia's  famous  motto,  Sic  Sem- 
per Tyrannis,  and  of  the  figure  of  Liberty  on  our 
coin  was  due  to  him. 

Like  their  kinsmen,  the  Nelsons,  the  Pages  were 
Episcopalians,  living  after  the  straitest  sect  of  their 
religion  so  strictly  that  they  were  regarded  as  the 
pillars  of  the  establishment  in  the  colony.  Yet, 
great  as  was  their  love  for  the  Church,  their  love  of 
liberty  was  not  less,  and  they  took  an  active  part  in 
the  disestablishment.  The  purity  of  their  motives 
will  be  understood  when  it  is  learned  that  the  fami- 
lies were  such  rigid  churchmen  that  Mrs.  General 
Nelson  never  was  in  a  "  meeting-house  "  in  her  life, 
and  never  heard  a  "  dissenter "  preach,  except 
when,  being  present  with  her  husband  in  Philadel- 


222  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

phia,  in  July,  1776,  her  patriotism  overcame  her 
principles,  and  she  went  to  hear  Doctor  Wither- 
spoon  preach  before  Congress. 

John  Page  was  a  great  churchman,  and  was 
urged  to  stand  for  orders  and  take  the  Virginia 
mitre  when  it  was  first  decided  to  send  a  bishop  to 
the  colony,  but  he  declined.  The  importunity  of 
his  friends  at  length  worried  him  so,  that  he  said 
"  he'd  be  damned  if  he  would  be  their  bishop  "  — 
a  resolution  this  expression  of  which  probably 
saved  him  further  trouble  on  that  score. 

After  the  Revolution,  the  master  of  Kosewell 
became  governor  of  Virginia,  and  continued  to  be 
re-elected  until,  after  three  terms,  he  became  in- 
eligible by  constitutional  limitation. 

So  long  as  the  master  lived,  Kosewell,  although 
mortgaged  for  debts  contracted  for  the  cause  of 
liberty,  was  kept  up,  a  grand  old  Virginia  mansion, 
open  to  all,  gentle  and  simple,  the  home  of  hospi- 
tality more  boundless  than  the  wealth  of  all  its 
owners.  But  after  that  it  passed  out  of  the  family. 
It  is,  perhaps,  the  most  interesting,  as  it  is  the 
largest,  colonial  relic  in  the  South. 

The  following  sketch  of  Colonel  John  Page 
of  Rosewell,  sometime  governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Virginia,  was  written  by  him  in  the  form 
of  a  letter  to  Skelton  Jones,  Esq.,  of  Richmond, 
Virginia.  It  was  in  answer  to  one  which  was 
addressed  to  Colonel  Page,  dated  August,  1808, 


TWO  OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES  223 

submitting  certain  queries  concerning  his  life,  char- 
acter, etc.,  and  requesting  him  to  give  answers 
thereto,  which  might  be  embodied  in  a  narrative, 
and  published  in  a  work  which  Mr.  Jones  was 
about  to  issue  from  the  press,  probably  the  contin- 
uation of  Burke's  "  History  of  Virginia." 

I  was  born  on  the  17th  day  of  April,  old  style,  Anno 
Domini,  1743,  at  Rosewell.  I  discover  from  the  tomb 
stones  in  Williamsburg  Churchyard,  and  from  others  in 
iny  Grandfather's  burying  ground,  at  his  family  seat,  Rose- 
well,  1st,  that  one  of  my  ancestors  named  John  Page, 
was  a  highly  respectable  character,  and  had  long  been 
one  of  the  King's  Council  in  this  Colony,  when  he  died, 
viz.  on  the  23d  January,  1691-2  ;  his  manuscripts  which  I 
have  seen,  prove  that  he  was  learned  and  pious.  2d.  That 
his  Son  Matthew  Page,  was  one  of  the  Council,  and  his 
Son  Mann  also,  whose  letters  to  his  friends,  and  theirs  to 
him,  exhibit  as  a  patriotic,  well  educated,  and  truly  ami- 
able gentleman.  He  had  his  classical  education  at  Eton 
school  in  England.  He  was  my  father's  father,  who  might 
also  have  been  appointed  to  the  office  of  a  Councillor, 
but  he  declined  it  in  favour  of  his  younger  brother  John 
Page,  who,  my  father  said,  having  been  brought  up  in  the 
study  of  the  law  regularly,  was  a  much  more  proper  per- 
son for  that  office  than  he  was.  The  John  Page  above 
first  mentioned  was,  as  we  find  by  an  old  picture,  a  Sir 
John  Page,  a  merchant  of  London,  supposed  to  have  been 
knighted,  as  Sir  John  Randolph  long  after  was,  for  pro- 
posing a  regulation  of  the  Tobacco  trade  and  a  duty 
thereon.  Which  if  it  was  the  case,  I  think  his  patriotism 
was  premature,  and  perhaps  misplaced ;  his  dear,  pure 
minded,  and  American  patriotic  grand  son,  my  grandfather, 
Mann  Page,  in  his  days  checked  the  British  Merchants  from 


224  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

claiming  even  freight  on  their  goods  from  England,  declaring 
that  their  freight  on  our  Tobacco,  and  homeward  bound 
articles,  added  to  their  monopoly  of  our  Trade,  ought  to 
satisfy  avarice  itself :  this  he  expressed  repeatedly  to  his 
mercantile  friends,  and  some  near  relations  who  were  To- 
bacco merchants  in  London ;  however  he  lived  not  long 
after !  The  fashion  or  practice  then  was  for  men  of  landed 
property  here,  to  dispose  of  their  children  in  the  following 
manner:  they  entailed  all  their  lands  on  their  eldest  son, 
brought  up  their  others,  according  to  their  genius  and  dis- 
position, physicians,  or  lawyers,  or  merchants,  or  ministers 
of  the  church  of  England,  which  commonly  maintained 
such  as  were  frugal  and  industrious.  My  father  was  fre- 
quently urged  by  friends,  but  not  relations,  to  pay  court  to 
Sir  Gregory  Page,  whose  heir  from  his  Coat  of  Arms,  and 
many  circumstances,  he  was  supposed  to  be.  But  he  de- 
spised titles  sixty  years  ago,  as  much  as  you  and  I  do 
now ;  and  would  have  nothing  to  say  to  the  rich  silly 
Knight,  who  died,  leaving  his  estate  and  title  to  a  sillier 
man  than  himself,  his  sister's  son,  a  Mr.  Turner,  on  con- 
dition that  he  would  take  the  name  and  title  of  Sir  Gregory 
Page,  which  he  did  by  act  of  Parliament,  as  I  was  told,  or  read. 
I  was  early  taught  to  read  and  write,  by  the  care  and 
attention  of  my  grandmother,  one  of  the  most  sensible,  and 
best  informed  women  I  ever  knew.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  Robert  Carter,  who  was  President  of  the  King's 
Council,  and  Secretary  of  Virginia,  and  who  at  the  same 
time,  held  the  rich  office  of  Proprietor  of  the  Northern  neck, 
by  purchase,  from  the  Lord  Proprietor,  his  friend,  who  was 
contented  to  receive  but  300Z.  per  annum  for  it,  as  the  re- 
port in  the  family  stated.  My  Grandmother  excited  in  my 
mind  an  inquisitiveness,  which,  whenever  it  was  proper,  she 
gratified,  and  very  soon  I  became  so  fond  of  reading,  that  I 
read  not  only  all  the  little  amusing  and  instructing  books 
which  she  put  in  my  hands,  but  many  which  I  took  out  of 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL  PLACES  225 

my  father's  and  grandfather's  collection,  which  was  no 
contemptible  library. 

But  in  the  year  1752,  when  I  was  niue  years  old,  my 
father  put  me  into  a  grammar  school,  at  the  glebe  house  of 
our  parish,  where  the  Rev'd  Mr.  Win.  Yates  had  under- 
taken the  tuition  of  twelve  scholars.  I  found  there  Lewis 
Willis  (the  late  Col.  L.  W.)  of  Fredericksburg,  Edward 
Carter,  (his  brother,  Charles  Carter  of  Shirley,  had  just  left 
this  school  and  gone  to  William  and  Mary  College,)  Severn 
Eyre,  of  the  Eastern  Shore,  Peter  Beverley  Whiting,  and 
his  brother  John,  Thos.  Nelson,  (the  late  Gen.  Nelson,) 
Christopher  Kobinson  of  Middlesex,  Augustine  Cook,  and 
John  Fox  of  Gloster ;  so  that  I  made  up,  or  kept  up  the 
number  which  Yates  required  ;  but  in  a  short  time,  his  pas- 
sionate disposition  induced  L.  Willis,  and  Edward  Carter  to 
leave  him,  and  Severn  Eyre  not  long  after  followed  the 
Carters  to  our  College,  where  Edward  had  joined  his  brother 
Charles.  The  two  Whitings  followed  them,  and  Mr.  Nelson, 
and  Col.  Tucker,  took  their  sons  and  sent  them  to  England, 
to  finish  their  education  ;  and  at  the  end  of  my  year,  Robin- 
son, Cooke,  and  Fox,  went  to  College,  and  my  father  and 
Mr.  Willis  procured  a  most  excellent  tutor  for  their  sons, 
instead  of  sending  them  there.  I  had  been  totally  inter- 
rupted in  my  delightful  reading  of  Histories,  and  Novels, 
for  twelve  months  tied  down  to  get  by  heart  an  insipid  and 
unintelligible  book,  called  Lilly's  Grammer,  one  sentence  in 
which  my  master  never  explained.  But  happily,  my  new 
tutor  Mr.  Wm.  Price,  at  Mr.  Willis's,  soon  enabled  me  to 
see  that  it  was  a  complete  Grammer,  and  an  excellent  Key 
to  the  Latin  Language.  This  faithful  and  ingenious  young 
man,  who  was  about  20  years  of  age,  and  had  been  studying 
the  language  at  his  leisure,  as  he  was  intended  for  the 
church,  into  which  he  could  not  enter  till  he  was  24  years 
of  age,  was  happily  of  a  most  communicative  disposition, 
and  possessed  the  happiest  talents  of  explaining  what  he 


226  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

taught,  and  rendering  it  an  agreeable,  and  most  desirable 
object ;  was  beloved  and  strictly  attended  to  by  me.  After 
3  years  close  application  to  my  studies  under  Mr.  Price, 
some  circumstances  occurred  which  induced  him  to  accept 
of  the  office  of  Secretary  to  the  Hon.  Philip  Ludwell,  who 
was  deputed  by  the  Governor  to  meet  a  Convention  of  Gov- 
ernors, or  their  deputies,  at  New  York,  to  resolve  on  the 
quotas  of  money  that  each  colony  should  furnish  to  carry 
on  the  war  against  France,  and  his  mind  had  been  so  in- 
flamed by  the  military  ardour  displayed  in  the  letters  of 
Capt.  George  Mercer,  (afterwards  Colonel  of  the  2d  Va. 
Regiment,)  another  old  fellow  collegian,  who  had  quitted 
the  academic  groves  there  for  the  field  of  Mars,  which  he 
had  always  read  to  me  with  enthusiasm,  that  he  resolved  to 
abandon  the  humble  employment  he  was  in,  and  to  fly  to 
the  Royal  standard,  to  fight  as  it  seemed  necessary  then 
to  do,  pro  Arts  et  Focis,  instead  of  going  to  •  England  for  a 
License  to  come  back,  and  preach  and  pray.  For  Brad- 
dock's  defeat  had  terrified  all  but  the  brave,  and  every 
coward  believed  and  said  that  we  were  on  the  point  of 
destruction.  My  dearly  beloved  Tutor,  however,  after  hav- 
ing enjoyed  Lieutenancy  a  few  months  in  the  British  army, 
died! 

It  is  highly  probable  that  Mr.  Price's  Whiggish  princi- 
ples, and  his  inducing  me  to  admire  Roman  and  Grecian 
Heroes,  and  to  delight  in  reading  of  wars  and  battles,  and 
to  enquire  on  what  the  success  of  those  interesting  events 
turned,  "  gave  the  colour  and  complexion"  to  my  prospects 
and  conduct  through  life  ;  otherwise  I  know  not  what  could 
have  borne  me  up  to  defy  the  terrible  threats  of  George  the 
3d,  and  at  last  actually  oppose  his  troops  in  arms,  as  the 
heroical  militia  of  Gloster,  now  Gloster  and  Mathews,  enabled 
me  to  do. 

After  I  had  lost  my  tutor  Mr.  Price,  my  father  entered 
me  in  the  Grammar  School  at  William  and  Mary  College, 


TWO   OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES  227 

when  I  was  13  years  of  age,  instead  of  sending  me  to 
England,  as  he  had  promised  my  mother  he  would,  before  I 
should  arrive  at  that  age.  But  fortunately  for  me,  several 
Virginians,  about  this  time,  had  returned  from  that  place 
(where  we  were  told  learning  alone  existed)  so  inconceiv- 
ably illiterate,  and  also  corrupted  and  vicious,  that  he  swore 
no  son  of  his  should  ever  go  there,  in  quest  of  an  education. 
The  most  remarkable  of  these  was  his  own  Cousin  Robert 
Carter,  of  Nominy,  who  however  in  a  course  of  years,  after 
he  had  got  a  seat  at  the  Council  board,  studied  Law,  His- 
tory, and  Philosophy,  and  although  his  knowledge  was  very 
limited,  and  his  mind  confused  by  studying  without  the 
assistance  of  a  tutor,  he  conversed  a  great  deal  with  our 
highly  enlightened  Governor,  Fauquier,  and  Mr.  "Win.  Small, 
the  Professor  of  Mathematics  at  the  College  of  Wm.  and 
Mary,  from  whom  he  derived  great  advantages.  And  his 
understanding  was  so  enlarged,  that  he  discovered  the  cruel 
tyrannical  designs  of  the  British  government,  and  when  I 
found  him  at  the  Council  Board,  hi  the  time  of  Lord  Duri- 
more,  he  was  a  pure  and  steady  patriot.  At  College,  as  my 
father  put  me  to  lodge,  board,  &c.,  at  the  President's, 
Thomas  Dawson,  a  younger  brother  of  Dr.  William  Dawson, 
at  whose  death  Thomas  succeeded  to  his  office  of  President 
of  William  and  Mary  College,  and  the  Bishop  of  London's 
Commissary  in  Virginia,  and  of  course  became  his  suc- 
cessor in  the  Council ;  for  the  Bishop  of  London  always  had 
sufficient  weight  with  the  King,  to  place  his  Deputy  Bishop, 
as  we  may  call  him,  in  that  mimick  deputy  House  of  Lords 
—  I  say  at  College,  as  I  lived  with  the  President,  who  my 
Father  had  feed  handsomely  to  be  my  private  tutor,  and  he, 
finding  me  far  better  graduated  in  Latin  than  many  boys 
much  older  than  myself,  was  proud  to  introduce  his  pupil 
to  the  particular  attention,  first  of  Governor  Dinwiddie,  an 
old  Scotch  gentleman,  who  was  fond  of  appearing  a  patron 
of  learning,  and  secondly,  to  Governor  Fauquier,  to  whose 


228  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

much  greater  learning  and  judgment  my  ever  to  be  beloved 
Professor,  Mr.  Small,  had  held  me  up  as  worthy  of  his 
attention  ;  —  I  had  finished  my  regular  course  of  studies,  in 
the  Philosophy  Schools,  after  having  gone  through  the 
Grammar  School,  before  the  death  of  Governor  Fauquier; 
and  having  married  Miss  Frances  Burwell,  only  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  Robert  Burwell,  and  of  his  wife  Sarah  Nelson,  the 
half  sister  of  William  Nelson,  and  Thos.  Nelson,  (two  broth- 
ers and  members  of  the  King's  Council,)  I  was  by  these 
gentlemen,  introduced  to  Lord  Botetourt's  attention,  when 
he  arrived  here  as  Governor,  and,  after  his  death,  to  Lord 
Dunmore,  on  his  arrival.  These  circumstances  contributed 
to  introduce  me  into  public  life ;  and  added  to  my  having 
been  twice  elected,  by  the  President  and  Professor  of  Wm. 
and  Mary  College,  to  represent  it  in  our  general  Assembly, 
and  had  been  appointed  by  the  Governor  and  visitors,  a 
visitor  of  the  College. 

As  a  visitor,  I  faithfully  supported  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  both  Professors  and  Students  ;  and  notwithstanding 
I  had  been  placed  at  the  Council  Board  by  Lord  Dunmore, 
I  opposed  his  nomination  of  John  Randolph  as  a  visitor, 
boldly  declaring  that  as  he  had  been  rejected  on  a  former 
occasion,  as  not  possessing  the  disposition  and  character, 
moral  and  religious,  which  the  Charter  and  Statutes  of  the 
College  required,  he  ought  not  again  to  be  nominated,  till 
it  could  be  proved  that  he  had  abandoned  his  former  princi- 
ples, and  practices,  which  no  one  could  venture  to  say  he 
had.  I  then  proposed  Nathaniel  Burwell,  in  the  place  of 
Lord  Dunmore' s  nomination,  and  he  was  elected  I  think  by 
every  voice  except  Dunmore's.  For  this,  although  he  never 
shewed  any  marks  of  resentment,  I  found  I  had  incurred 
his  displeasure,  and  that  of  his  Secretary,  Capt.  Edward 
Foy,  who  resented  my  conduct  so  much  before  some  of  my 
friends,  that  I  was  obliged  to  call  him  to  an  account  for  it  — 
and  he,  like  a  brave  and  candid  man,  made  full  reparation 


TWO  OLD  COLONIAL  PLACES      229 

to  me,  and  my  friend  James  Innes,  at  that  time  Usher  of 
the  Grammar  School  in  William  and  Mary  College,  after- 
wards the  well-known  Col.  Innes.  I  continued  to  discharge 
the  duty  of  a  visitor  till  I  was  elected  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, when  finding  that  I  could  not  attend  the  visitations,  I 
resigned  my  office  of  visitor.  As  a  member  of  the  General 
Assembly,  I  voted  always  in  favour  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty ;  that  is  for  the  enaction  of  those  laws  that  would 
promote  either,  and  for  the  abolition  of  entails.  In  the 
Council,  I  adhered  to  my  former  Whiggish  principles,  and 
of  course  opposed  the  Tory  principles  of  the  Governor,  a 
pupil  of  Lord  Bute  ;  for  he  boasted  that  he  was  the  com- 
panion of  George  III.  during  his  tuition  under  that  Earl  — 
("Par  nobile  Fratrum!").  At  one  Board,  I  joined  with 
those  patriotic  members  who  advised  the  issuing  of  new 
writs  for  the  election  and  call  of  an  Assembly,  and  at  a 
time  when  it  was  dangerous  (as  far  as  a  loss  of  office  went) 
to  propose  it,  as  the  Governor  had  plainly  given  us  to  under- 
stand, that  the  King  was  determined  to  rule  the  Colonies 
without  their  check,  or  controul ;  and  at  another  Board,  I 
boldly  advised  the  Governor  to  give  up  the  Powder  and 
Arms,  which  he  had  removed  from  the  Magazine.  But  he 
flew  into  an  outrageous  passion,  smiting  his  fist  on  the  table, 
saying,  "Mr.  Page,  I  am  astonished  at  you."  I  calmly  re- 
plied I  had  discharged  my  duty,  and  had  no  other  advice  to 
give.  As  the  other  Councillors  neither  seconded  or  opposed 
me,  he  was  greatly  embarassed.  As  I  was  never  summoned 
to  attend  another  Board,  I  might  well  suspect  I  was  sus- 
pended from  my  office  ;  but  as  I  cared  nothing  about  that,  I 
never  enquired  whether  I  was  or  not.  P.  Henry,  afterwards 
so  famous  for  his  military  parade  against  Dunmore,  did 
actually  bully  him,  but  they  appeared  to  me  to  be  mutually 
afraid  of  each  other.  I  never  refused  any  office,  however 
humble,  or  however  perilous.  I  served  as  Col.  of  a  Regi- 
ment of  Militia,  which  was  offered  me  during  a  serious  inva- 


230  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

sion;  and  resigned  but  that  of  Councillor,  after  having 
served,  as  I  expressed  in  my  letter  to  the  General  Assembly, 
beyond  what  I  conceived  was  the  time  contemplated  by  the 
Constitution. 

In  1784,  I  served  as  an  Academician,  with  Bishop 
Madison,  Mr.  R.  Andrews,  and  Andrew  Ellicott,  in  ascer- 
taining and  fixing  the  boundary  between  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia ;  and  in  1785,  as  a  Lay  Deputy  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  deputed  by  the  Convention  of  Virginia 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Griffiths,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCroskey  to 

represent in  the  Grand  Convention,  at  New  York.  I 

then  served  my  native  county  as  a  representative  in  Assem- 
bly, till  the  new  Constitution  threw  me  into  Congress, 
where  I  served  my  country  eight  years  with  a  safe  con- 
science, till  John  Adams  and  A.  Hamilton  shut  me  out ; 
I  however  repeatedly  struggled  to  get  in  again,  but  in  vain. 

I  would  require  volumes  to  describe  what  I  did  whilst 
in  the  Committee  of  Safety,  Council,  and  Congress,  and  no 
small  one  to  relate  the  interesting  and  hazardous  services 
I  performed  with  my  brave  associates  in  Gloster  and 
Mathews.  If  I  live  my  Memoirs  shall  do  justice  to  the 
brave  and  patriotic  county,  Lieut.  Peyton,  and  many 
others  who  deserve;  but  my  Lieut.  Col.  Thomas  Baytop, 
and  his  brave  patriotic  brother,  who  served  under  him 
freely  during  those  times,  and  Capt.  Camp,  now  Colonel, 
are  alive,  as  is  also  Capt.  Hudgins,  now  of  Mathews,  who 
displayed,  with  many  other  officers,  bravery  and  skill,  par- 
ticularly Col.  J.  Baytop. 

I  next  served  in  the  military  character  as  Lieut.  Col. 
Commandant  in  Gloster,  and  took  my  tour  of  duty,  as  Com- 
mander of  a  Regiment,  composing  part  of  the  quota  called 
from  Virginia,  to  quell  the  insurgents  in  the  Western 
Country.  Though  sick,  I  marched  and  joined  my  Brigadier 
at  Winchester,  and  my  Major  General  at  Frankfort,  near 
the  foot  of  the  Alleghany,  who  finding  me  actually  ill, 


TWO   OLD   COLONIAL  PLACES  231 

wrote  me  a  consolatory  letter,  and  advised  me  to  return 
home  by  slow  marches. 


Before  I  had  the  benefit  of  a  Philosophical  education  at 
College,  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Walker,  Dabney  Carr,  and 
others,  under  the  illustrious  Professor  of  Mathematics, 
Wm.  Small,  Esq.,  afterwards  well  known  as  the  great  Dr. 
Small,  of  Birmingham,  the  darling  friend  of  Darwin,  His- 
tory, and  particularly  military  and  naval  History,  attracted 
my  attention.  But  afterwards,  natural  and  experimental 
Philosophy,  Mechanics,  and,  in  short,  every  branch  of  the 
Mathematics,  particularly  Algebra,  and  Geometry,  warmly 
engaged  my  attention,  till  they  led  me  on  to  Astronomy, 
to  which  after  I  had  left  College,  till  some  time  after  I  was 
married,  I  devoted  my  time.  I  never  thought,  however, 
that  I  had  made  any  great  proficiency  in  any  study,  for 
I  was  too  sociable,  and  fond  of  the  conversation  of  my 
friends  to  study  as  Mr.  Jefferson  did,  who  could  tear  him- 
self away  from  his  dearest  friends,  to  fly  to  his  studies. 

The  memoir  was  never  completed,  having  been 
interrupted  by  the  illness  and  death  of  its  author. 
He  succeeded  James  Monroe  as  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia in  1802.  This  office  he  held  for  three  suc- 
cessive terms,  —  the  longest  period  allowed  by  the 
Constitution, — and  was  thereafter  appointed  by 
Mr.  Jefferson  Commissioner  of  Loans  for  Virginia, 
which  office  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death,  on 
the  llth  of  October,  1808.  In  1790,  while  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  he  married  his  second  wife,  Miss 
Margaret  Lowther  of  New  York,  who  survived 
him,  as  did  also  children  of  each  marriage. 


232  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

He  lies  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  "  Old  St. 
John's/'1  Richmond,  Virginia,  close  to  the  walls 
which  he  held  sacred  to  the  service  of  God  and  his 
country. 

1  Here  met  on  the  20th  of  March,  1775,  the  Second  Virginia 
Convention,  which  lasted  a  week,  and  adjourned  after  taking 
steps  for  putting  the  colony  in  a  "posture  of  defence."  It  was 
during  the  debate  on  this  subject  that  Patrick  Henry  made  the 
famous  speech  concluding  with  the  well-known  sentence,  "  Give 
me  liberty,  or  give  me  death." 


THE   OLD   VIRGINIA   LAWYER 


TflE   OLD   VIRGINIA   LAWYER 

I  KNEW  him  only  in  his  latter  days ;  but  I  have 
known  those  who  knew  him  well,  and  thus  I  have 
come  to  have  some  knowledge  of  him;  and  as  he  has 
passed  away  it  seems  to  me  well  that  some  memory 
of  him  should  be  preserved.  He  was  a  notable  per- 
sonage ;  a  character  well  worth  preserving ;  a  con- 
stituent part  of  our  civilization.  He  was  the  most 
considerable  man  of  the  county.  The  planter,  the 
preacher,  and  the  doctor  were  all  men  of  position 
and  consideration;  but  the  old  lawyer  surpassed 
them  all.  Without  the  wealth  of  the  planter,  the 
authority  of  the  clergyman,  or  the  personal  affection 
which  was  the  peculiar  possession  of  the  family 
physician,  the  old  lawyer  held  a  position  in  the 
county  easily  first.  He  was,  indeed,  as  has  been 
aptly  said,  a  planter,  though  he  was  not  that  pri- 
marily. Primarily  he  was  a  lawyer.  He  managed 
his  farm  only  by  the  way. 

Often,  perhaps  generally,  he  was  of  good  family 
and  social  connection ;  or  if  he  was  not,  he  was  a 
man  of  such  native  force  of  mind  and  character  that 
he  had  made  and  maintained  his  position  without 
such  adventitious  aids,  in  a  social  system  to  the 

235 


236  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

aristocratic  exclusiveness  of  which  his  case  was  the 
single  exception.  Generally,  he  was  both  clever 
and  ambitious;  for  only  the  exceptionally  clever 
and  ambitious  were  put  at  the  bar. 

He  had  the  prestige  of  a  college  education^  (except 
in  the  instance  mentioned,  where  by  his  natural 
powers  he  had,  without  such  aid,  made  himself), 
and  his  education  was  an  education  indeed,  not 
a  mere  cramming  of  the  memory  with  so  many 
facts  or  so  many  statements  concerning  so  many 
things.  His  knowledge  was  not  rudis  indigestaque 
moles. 

Thus  when  he  left  college  he  had  a  mind  trained 
to  work  on  whatever  was  before  it  like  a  well- 
adjusted  machine,  and  not  a  mere  shell  littered  up 
with  indiscriminate  information.  He  was  ambi- 
tious, and  his  aspirations  were  high ;  otherwise 
he  would  not  have  taken  to  the  bar.  Probably 
he  had  taken  a  turn  at  politics  as  a  young  man, 
usually  on  the  losing  side.  If  he  was  success- 
ful, he  generally  continued  in  politics,  and  thus 
was  not  an  "  old  lawyer,"  but  a  statesman  or  poli- 
tician who  might  or  might  not  practise  law  by 
the  way. 

His  training  was  not  always  that  of  the  modern 
law-class ;  but  it  was  more  than  a  substitute  for  it ; 
and  it  was  of  its  own  kind,  complete.  He  "read 
law  under"  some  old  lawyer,  some  friend  of  his 
father  or  himself,  who,  although  not  a  professor, 
was,  without  professing  it,  an  admirable  teacher. 


THE   OLD   VIKGINIA  LAWYER  237 

He  associated  with  him  constantly,  in  season  and 
out  of  season ;  he  saw  him  in  his  every  mood ;  he 
observed  him  in  intercourse  with  his  clients,  with 
his  brothers  of  the  bar,  with  the  outside  world ;  he 
heard  him  discourse  of  law,  of  history,  of  literature, 
of  religion,  of  philosophy ;  he  learned  from  him  to 
ponder  every  manifestation  of  humanity;  to  con- 
sider the  great  underlying  principles  into  which 
every  proposition  was  resolvable  ;  he  found  in  him 
an  exemplification  of  much  that  he  inculcated,  and 
a  frank  avowal  of  that  wherein  he  failed.  He 
learned  to  accept  Lord  Coke's  dictum  :  "  melior  est 
peterefontes  quam  sectari  rivulos,"  —  to  look  to  the 
sources  rather  than  to  tap  the  streams ;  he  fed  upon 
the  strong  meat  of  the  institutes  and  the  commen- 
taries, with  the  great  leading  cases  which  stand  now 
as  principles;  he  received  by  absorption  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  profession.  On  these,  like  a  healthy 
child,  he  grew  strong  without  taking  note.  Thus 
in  due  time  when  his  work  came  he  was  fully 
equipped.  His  old  tutor  had  not  only  taught  him 
law ;  he  had  taught  him  that  the  law  was  a  science, 
and  a  great,  if  not  the  greatest  science. 

He  had  impressed  him  with  the  principles  which 
he  himself  held,  and  they  were  sound;  he  had, 
indeed,  stamped  upon  his  mind  the  conviction  that 
he,  his  tutor,  was  the  greatest  lawyer  of  his  time,  a 
conviction  which  no  subsequent  observation  nor 
experience  ever  served  to  remove. 

His  law  library  was  a  curious  one ;  it  embraced 


238  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

the  great  text-writers,  only  the  greatest — Bracton, 
Coke  upon  Littleton,  Blackstone  —  generally  in  old 
editions  with  marginal  notes  in  the  handwriting 
of  his  early  and  ambitious  days ;  it  had  probably 
the  Virginia  Reports  and  a  few,  a  very  few,  old 
English  reports,  the  decisions  of  Lord  Hardwick 
and  Lord  Mansfield  being  among  them,  generally 
in  odd  volumes,  the  others  having  been  borrowed 
and  never  returned. 

On  circuit  he  carried  his  library  and  his  ward- 
robe in  his  saddle-bags. 

If,  however,  his  law  library  was  scant,  his  gen- 
eral library  was  much  more  complete ;  on  the  shelves 
of  his  book-presses  were  the  classics,  both  Latin 
and  English,  all  testifying  use,  for  nothing  there 
was  for  show.  These  he  knew ;  he  not  only  read 
them,  but  loved  them ;  he  associated  with  them  ; 
he  revelled  in  them.  The  poets  and  sages  of  the 
past  were  his  teachers,  his  friends. 

He  had  made  his  mark,  perhaps  unexpectedly, 
in  some  case  in  which  the  force  of  his  maturing 
intellect  had  suddenly  burst  forth,  astonishing 
alike  the  bar  and  the  bench,  and  enrapturing  the 
public.  Perhaps  it  was  a  criminal  case;  perhaps 
one  in  which  equity  might  be  on  his  side,  with  the 
law  dead  against  him  ;  and  which  was  regarded  by 
older  men  with  the  conservatism  of  age  as  impos- 
sible until,  by  his  brilliant  effort,  he  unexpectedly 
won  it.  As  like  as  not  he  rode  forty  miles  that 
night  to  give  a  flower  to  his  sweetheart. 


THE   OLD   VIRGINIA   LAWYER  239 

From  this  time  his  reputation,  his  influence,  and 
his  practice  increased.  His  professional  position 
was  henceforth  assured.  He  had  risen  from  a  tyro 
to  be  an  old  lawyer. 

He  married  early,  and  for  love,  the  daughter  of  a 
gentleman,  very  likely  of  the  old  lawyer  with  whom 
he  had  read  law;  perhaps  a  beauty  and  a  belle, 
who,  with  many  suitors,  chose  the  young  lawyer, 
whom  older  men  were  beginning  to  speak  of,  and 
younger  men  were  already  following ;  who  had 
brought  her  the  news  of  his  victory  that  night,  and 
who  could  cope  with  her  father  in  a  discussion  or 
disdainfully  destroy  a  younger  disputant.  He  took 
her  to  live  on  some  poor  plantation,  in  an  old  house 
which  stood  amid  great  oaks  and  hickories,  with 
scanty  furniture  and  few  luxuries,  yet  which, 
under  their  joint  influence,  became  an  old  Virginia 
home,  and  a  centre  of  hospitality  and  refinement. 
Here  he  lived,  not  merely  had  his  being,  a  machine 
or  part  of  a  machine ;  but  lived,  and  what  a  life  it 
was  !  The  body  fed  and  kept  in  health  ;  the  soul 
free  from  vice  and  debasement,  dwelling  in  con- 
stant intercourse  with  a  beautiful  being;  in  com- 
munion, if  not  with  God,  at  least  with  his  two 
chief  ministers  :  Nature  and  a  gracious,  gentle,  and 
pure  woman ;  the  intellect  nourished  by  associa- 
tion with  a  pure  spirit,  by  contact  with  the  best 
thought  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  and  by  con- 
stant and  philosophic  reflection.  The  world  pros- 
pered ;  friends  surrounded  him ;  young  children 


240  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

with  their  mother's  eyes  came  and  played  about 
his  feet,  with  joyous  voices  making  his  heart  con- 
tent. Thus  he  grew,  his  circle  ever  widening  as 
the  circle  of  our  horizon  widens  when  we  climb 
towards  heaven.  These  were  some  of  the  influ- 
ences which  created  him. 

Let  me  mention  one  of  the  chief.  It  was  his 
wife.  She  believed  in  him ;  she  worshipped  him. 
She  knew  he  ought  to  be  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States.  She  was  the  supreme  presence 
which  made  his  home  and  gave  him  in  large  part 
his  distinctive  character.  She  ruled  his  house, 
regulated  his  domestic  affairs,  and  was  his  chief 
minister.  In  all  matters  within  the  curtilage,  in- 
deed, she  was  the  head.  Within  this  boundary 
and  in  all  that  pertained  thereto,  with  a  single 
exception,  she  was  supreme.  That  exception  was 
his  old  desk  or  "  secretary."  It  was  sacred  even 
from  her,  consecrated  to  him  alone.  There  were 
kept  piles  of  old  letters,  and  bundles  of  old  papers 
in  what  appeared  to  her  orderly  mind  a  strange 
confusion ;  but  which  he  always  declared  was  the 
perfection  of  order,  though  it  invariably  took  him 
a  long  time  to  find  any  particular  paper  he  might 
want,  a  difficulty  which  he  attributed  to  the  occa- 
sion when  she  had  once  shortly  after  marriage 
attempted  in  his  absence  to  "  put  things  in  order." 
Since  then  she  had  regarded  the  desk  and  its  con- 
tents with  profound  reverence.  He  repaid  her  by 
holding  her  as  the  incarnation  of  all  wisdom  and 


THE   OLD   VIRGINIA   LAWYER  241 

virtue.  He  stood  before  her  as  before  an  inscru- 
table and  superior  being.  He  intrusted  to  her  all 
his  personal  affairs,  temporal  and  spiritual.  He 
could  not  have  secured  an  abler  administrator. 
She  was  his  complement,  the  unseen  influence 
which  made  him  what  he  was.  She  created  the 
atmosphere  in  which  he  shone. 

His  professional  life,  once  begun,  went  on.  The 
law  is  an  enlistment  for  life  and  the  battle  is  ever 
in  array.  No  client  who  appeared  with  the  requi- 
site certificate  of  clientage  was  ever  refused. 
There  was  no  picking  and  choosing.  The  old  law- 
yer was  a  sworn  officer  of  the  court,  a  constituent 
element  of  the  great  juridical  system  of  the 
country.  Whoever  wanted  legal  advice,  and  applied 
to  him  for  it,  was  entitled  to  it  and  received  it. 
From  that  moment  the  relation  of  counsel  and 
client  began.  It  was  a  sacred  relation.  His  clients 
were  his  "  clients  "  in  the  good  old  original  sense  of 
the  term.  They  were  not  merely  persons  who  came 
into  an  office  and  bought  and  paid  for  so  much  pro- 
fessional service;  they  were  his  clients,  who  con- 
fided in  his  protection  as  their  patron,  and  received 
it.  The  requisite  preliminaries,  it  is  true,  had  to  be 
satisfactorily  arranged ;  the  client  had  to  recognize 
his  importance ;  his  authority  as  his  counsel ;  the 
good  fortune  he  had  in  securing  his  services;  he 
had  to  promise  to  transfer  to  him  a  proper  portion 
of  his  personal  estate  as  a  proof  that  he  did  under- 
stand the  full  measure  of  this  good  fortune,  and 


242  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

then  he  became  his  counsel.  From  this  moment 
the  client  had  obtained  the  use  of  a  new  force. 
From  this  moment  he  "  had  counsel."  Every  power 
and  every  resource  were  devoted  to  his  service. 
No  time  was  too  precious  to  be  spent,  no  labor  too 
arduous  to  be  endured  in  his  behalf.  Body,  mind, 
and  soul,  his  counsel  had  flung  himself  into  his 
cause  ;  guided  by  his  professional  instinct,  spurred 
by  his  professional  pride,  he  identified  himself 
with  his  client's  cause,  ready  to  live  for  it,  fight 
for  it,  and  if  necessary  even  die  for  it.  Public 
opinion  had  nothing  to  do  with  his  undertaking  a 
case.  He  thought  but  of  his  profession.  He  would, 
if  applied  to,  defend  a  client  whom  if  he  had  not 
been  applied  to  he  would  willingly  have  hung. 

Once  in  a  case,  he  never  gave  up ;  if  possible  he 
carried  it  on  to  success,  or  if  he  were  defeated  he 
expended  every  intellectual  resource  in  trying  to 
recover;  he  was  ready  to  move  for  new  trials,  to 
appeal,  to  apply  for  rehearings,  and  if  at  the  end 
he  were  still  unsuccessful,  he  went  down  damning 
every  one  opposed  to  him,  counsel,  client,  and  bench, 
as  a  parcel  of  fools  who  did  not  know  the  law  when 
he  put  it  under  their  very  noses.  No  wonder  that 
the  clients  regarded  their  counsel  with  veneration  ! 

In  a  trial  he  was  a  new  being ;  his  eye  bright- 
ened ;  his  senses  quickened ;  his  nerves  thrilled ; 
his  form  straightened ;  every  power,  every  force, 
was  called  into  play  ;  he  was  no  longer  a  mere  law- 
yer, he  was  a  gladiator  in  an  intellectual  contest 


THE   OLD   VIRGINIA   LAWYER  243 

where  the  intellect  was  strung  to  its  highest  pitch ; 
a  soldier  fighting  for  a  cause  where  reason  was 
wrought  in  plain,  pure,  unmistakable  nakedness ; 
where  every  force  of  the  human  mind  was  called 
into  action,  and  every  chord  of  the  human  heart 
was  at  hand  to  be  played  upon. 

Before  a  judge  he  was  powerful;  for  he  ar- 
gued from  the  bed-rock  principles.  This  was  his 
strength.  He  was  trained  to  it.  Often  retained 
on  the  court  green  just  before  the  case  was  called 
at  bar,  in  out-of-the-way  places  where  there  were 
no  books,  he  was  forced  to  rely  upon  his  reason ; 
and  his  reason  and  his  cause  equally  prospered. 
One  of  his  maxims  was,  "  Common  law  is  common 
sense."  Another  was,  "The  reason  of  the  law  is 
the  life  of  the  law."  He  did  not  need  books ;  as 
was  said,  no  man  had  more  contempt  for  author- 
ities, no  man  had  more  respect  for  authority. 

But  if  he  was  potent  before  a  judge,  before  a 
jury  he  was  supreme.  For  pleading  he  had  little 
or  no  respect.  It  was  to  be  accepted  as  one  of  the 
eccentricities  of  the  profession ;  it  was  like  some  of 
the  unaccountable  and  inscrutable  things  in  the  old 
dispensation,  to  be  accepted  in  silence;  it  was  a 
mystery.  His  great  aim  was  to  come  to  the  jury. 
He  often  filed  a  blank  declaration,  secure  in  the 
knowledge  that  his  opponent  would  take  no  advan- 
tage of  him,  knowing  that  next  time  he  might  file 
a  blank  declaration  himself.  The  real  thing  was,  in 
the  words  of  one  of  them,  "  to  brush  way  the  little 


244  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

chinquapin  bush  p'ints  and  get  at  the  guts  of  the 
case." 

He  held  men  generally  in  some  contempt ;  but  as 
they  approached  in  the  scale  to  the  dignity  of  mem- 
bers of  the  bar,  his  estimation  of  them  rose.  The 
old  clerks,  as  standing  in  a  close  relation  to  the  bar, 
were  his  friends,  stood  high  in  his  regard,  and  were 
admitted  to  a  share  of  his  intimacy.  The  bench  he 
treated  with  all  respect,  his  true  feelings  for  the 
persons  who  sat  on  it  being  perhaps  sometimes 
veiled,  as  it  was  the  position  not  the  man  that  he 
respected ;  but  his  affection,  his  enthusiasm,  were 
reserved  for  the  bar.  The  profession  of  the  law 
was  to  him  the  highest  of  all  professions.  It  was  a 
brotherhood  ;  it  was  sacred ;  it  maintained  the  rights 
of  man,  preserved  the  government,  controlled  the 
administration  of  law.  It  was  the  profession  of 
Bacon,  and  Coke,  and  Clarendon ;  of  Lord  Hard- 
wick  and  Lord  Mansfield ;  of  Pratt  and  Eldon  and 
Erskine ;  of  Pendleton,  Henry,  and  Wythe,  and  the 
greatest  of  his  race  and  kind.  It  was  the  profes- 
sion which  created  the  liberties  of  man  and  pre- 
served the  rights  of  man. 

Membership  in  it  was  a  patent  to  the  possessor, 
a  freemasonry,  a  tie  like  that  of  close  common 
blood  which  made  every  member  of  the  bar  "a 
brother  lawyer."  Every  member  was  assumed  to 
be  all  right,  in  virtue  of  his  position,  without  fur- 
ther question ;  when  one  failed  and  was  found 
wanting,  he  dropped  out.  Special  terms  of  repro- 


THE  OLD   VIRGINIA  LAWYER  245 

bation  were  adopted,  such  as  "  Shyster  "  and  "  Pet- 
tifogger," the  full  significance  of  which  was  known 
only  to  the  profession.  The  extreme  penalty  was 
disbarring.  It  was  deemed  as  great  a  disgrace  as  any 
other  criminal  sentence.  Shrewdness  might  pos- 
sibly save  the  malefactor  this  extreme  result ;  but 
if  he  were  guilty  he  was  sentenced  by  the  opinion 
of  the  bar  in  its  severest  term.  He  was  "unpro- 
fessional." 

These  things  maintained  an  exalted  standard  in 
the  profession.  They  created  a  sustaining  atmos- 
phere. Wherever  the  old  lawyer  went  he  felt  it 
sensibly.  He  could  not  be  a  lawyer  and  not  be  a 
better  and  a  stronger  man.  He  recognized  it ;  he 
made  others  recognize  it;  it  was  a  controlling 
motive  in  his  life.  He  practised  on  this  basis,  and 
as  a  result  he  elevated  his  profession  and  made  it 
better  than  he  found  it. 

In  conversation  he  was  brilliant.  The  whole 
field  of  law,  of  literature,  history,  philosophy,  was 
his  domain.  In  all  of  them  he  ranged  at  will, 
exhibiting  a  knowledge,  an  intelligence,  a  critical 
faculty,  which  were  astonishing.  Though  he  never 
wrote  a  line,  he  was  a  philosopher,  a  wit,  a  poet. 
His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was  profound.  It 
was  his  chief  study.  He  nearly  always  spoke  of 
men  in  the  aggregate  with  contempt ;  of  the  times 
as  "  degenerate " ;  yet  in  actual  intercourse  his 
conduct  was  at  variance  with  his  talk ;  he  treated 
every  one  with  respect.  He  was  in  ordinary  inter- 


246  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

course  serious  even  to  gravity,  as  one  who  bore 
heavy  responsibilities;  it  was  only  with  his  par- 
ticular friends  at  home,  or  with  his  "brothers  of 
the  bar  "  on  circuit,  that  he  unbent.  His  fund  of 
anecdote  was  inexhaustible.  He  told  stories  which 
kept  his  companions  roaring ;  told  them  with  in- 
imitable aptness  and  delicious  humor ;  among  them 
he  was  a  boy,  jovial,  rollicking ;  yet,  let  but  a  fool 
approach,  and  he  was  dignity  itself.  To  young  law- 
yers he  was  all  kindness.  He  treated  them  with  a 
courtesy  which  was  knightly,  with  a  gentleness  and 
consideration  which  were  almost  tenderness.  In 
private  intercourse  he  called  them  by  their  names, 
with  that  flattering  familiarity  so  pleasing  to  young 
men.  In  public  he  referred  to  them  as  "the  learned 
counsel"  or  "my  distinguished  young  brother." 
They  repaid  it  by  worshipping  him. 

It  was  when  he  discoursed  of  law  that  the  real 
power  of  his  intellect  was  shown.  He  spoke  of  it 
with  affection,  with  reverence,  with  enthusiasm. 
Under  his  analysis  the  most  intricate  problems 
appeared  plain,  the  most  eccentric  phases  resolved 
themselves  into  reason,  the  "common  law  was 
common  sense."  It  was  not  the  law  as  adminis- 
tered by  fallible  judges  in  petty  courts ;  it  was  the 
law  on  which  Littleton  and  Coke  and  Blackstone 
and  Tucker  had  expended  their  powers ;  the  law  in 
its  roundness,  its  beauty,  its  perfection,  worthy  to 
have  for  its  seat  "  the  bosom  of  God,"  and  for  its 
voice  "  the  harmony  of  Nature." 


THE   OLD    VIRGINIA   LAWYER  247 

He  was  sometimes  profane,  but  never  blasphe- 
mous ;  he  was  not  even  generally  profane,  for  he  re- 
garded speech  as  a  fine  instrument  to  be  employed 
rightly.  But  on  occasion  he  swore  with  vehemence, 
with  power,  with  unction ;  properly  employing  his 
oaths  for  purposes  of  superlative  malediction. 

In  his  opinions,  outside  of  the  law,  he  was  earnest, 
bigoted,  intolerant.  His  speech  was  often  fero- 
cious ;  his  action  was  ever  the  reverse.  He  was 
generous  to  lavishness.  He  kept  open  house,  and 
dispensed  a  boundless  hospitality,  usually  living 
up  to  and  often  beyond  his  means ;  if  he  did 
not  spend  his  money,  some  friend  for  whom  he 
had  gone  security  almost  infallibly  would.  He 
was  frequently  in  pecuniary  embarrassment;  yet 
he  was  honest.  He  sometimes  even  borrowed 
money  from  his  clients;  but  it  was  done  in  an 
open  way,  with  their  consent,  and  always  without 
the  least  idea  of  not  repaying  it.  The  case  may  be 
cited  of  one  who  in  a  suit,  being  asked  what  he  did 
with  his  client's  money  which  he  had  collected, 
replied :  "  Put  it  in  my  bank,  sir,  to  my  credit,  and 
drew  on  it  at  my  own  sweet  will,  as  is  customary 
among  gentlemen  of  ample  means  and  greater  ex- 
pectations." 

He  was  more  charitable  than  the  rector ;  no  one 
ever  appealed  to  him  for  aid  in  vain ;  he  would  lend 
even  if  he  had  to  borrow  to  do  it.  "His  pity  gave 
ere  charity  began." 

He  knew  every  man  in  his  circuit,  knew  him  and 


248  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

his  father,  and  often  had  known  his  grandfather 
before  him ;  knew  his  history  and  all  his  concerns ; 
was  privy  (not  in  the  legal  sense)  to  his  whole  life, 
and  to  his  every  act,  frequently  to  the  lives  of  his 
parents ;  for  his  familiarity  with  the  affairs  of  his 
section  was  minute,  universal.  Perhaps  it  was  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  with  this  intimate  knowl- 
edge he  held  men  at  large  in  some  contempt.  He 
was  not  always  a  professing  Christian;  often  he 
was  not  a  member  of  any  church;  but  his  wife 
was,  and  this  made  it  all  right  in  his  eyes.  His 
failure  to  be  a  professing  Christian  was  usually 
caused  less  by  want  of  piety  than  by  humility, 
a  sense  of  personal  unworthiness ;  but  he  did  jus- 
tice, loved  mercy,  and  walked  humbly  with  his  God. 

His  reputation,  like  his  infirmities,  increased  with 
his  years.  Often  in  his  latter  days  he  was  forced 
against  his  will  into  political  life,  where  he  achieved 
immediate  renown.  If  he  did  not  enter  politics, 
often  he  was  more  potent  than  if  he  did.  Fre- 
quently he  was  called  on  in  times  of  great  popular 
fervor  or  excitement  to  speak  to  the  people,  who 
relied  upon  him  and  wanted  his  council.  Gen- 
erally his  eloquence  was  overwhelming.  He  made 
speeches  the  reputation  of  which  long  survived  him. 

He  died  poor,  leaving  no  written  memorial  of  his 
labors ;  often  his  very  name  was  in  a  generation  or 
two  forgot.  But  he  was  the  best  missed  man  in 
his  section.  He  was  missed  by  all;  but  most  of 
all  by  the  poor,  by  the  helpless ;  by  widows  and 


THE  OLD   VIRGINIA   LAWYER  249 

orphans.  It  was  only  after  he  passed  away  that 
his  deeds  of  kindness  were  known;  that  his  full 
worth  was  recognized.  As  when  a  great  oak  is 
overthrown  by  the  tempest,  its  magnitude  can  be 
told  by  the  rent  it  has  made,  so  after  he  passed  from 
them  men  came  to  know  how  great  he  had  been  by 
the  void  he  left. 

Tradition  took  up  his  name  and  handed  down 
stories  of  his  prowess  at  the  bar  which  lived, 
though  as  time  passed  they  were  attached  to  other 
names,  and  his  was  lost.  There  was  recorded  no 
memorial  of  his  work  at  the  bar ;  but  for  all  that 
his  work  survived.  He  left  as  the  fruit  of  his 
labors  that  which  he  himself  would  have  deemed 
the  highest  reward:  large  services  rendered  his 
f ellowmen ;  much  charity  done  in  secret ;  a  good 
name,  and  an  unsullied  profession. 


THE   WANT   OF  A  HISTORY   OF 
THE   SOUTHERN   PEOPLE 


THE  WANT  OF  A  HISTORY  OF  THE 
SOUTHERN   PEOPLE 

Do  we  know  the  true  history  of  the  South  ?  I 
confess  that  I  do  not,  nor  do  I  know  where  it  may 
be  learned. 

When  Phaon,  the  Sophist,  consulted  the  oracle, 
he  was  directed  to  inquire  of  the  dead. 

"  How  may  this  be  ?  "  said  the  people,  "  seeing 
that  the  dead  cannot  speak  ?  " 

The  philosopher  turned  to  the  records  of  their 
wisdom,  and  there  found  the  answer  he  sought. 

If  the  South  to-day  should  consult  the  oracle  and 
receive  this  answer,  whither  should  she  turn  ? 

The  eloquence  which  once  reverberated  from  one 
end  of  the  earth  to  the  other  is  now  an  echo ;  and 
the  wisdom  which  created  a  nation  is  now  the 
property  of  every  beggar  who  dares  to  assert  a 
claim. 

There  is  no  true  history  of  the  South.  In  a  few 
years  there  will  be  no  South  to  demand  a  history. 
What  of  our  history  is  known  by  the  world  to-day  ? 
What  is  our  position  in  history  ?  How  are  we 
regarded  ?  Nothing  or  next  to  nothing  is  known 

253 


254  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

of  our  true  history  by  the  world  at  large.  By  a 
limited  class  in  England  there  is  a  vague  belief 
founded  on  a  sentiment  that  the  South  was  the 
aristocratic  section  of  this  country,  and  that  it 
stood  for  its  rights,  even  with  an  indefensible 
cause.  By  a  somewhat  more  extended  class  its 
heroism  is  admired  sufficiently  to  partly  condone 
its  heresies.  But  these  are  a  small  part  of  the 
public.  By  the  world  at  large  we  are  held  to  have 
been  an  ignorant,  illiterate,  cruel,  semi-barbarous 
section  of  the  American  people,  sunk  in  brutality 
and  vice,  who  have  contributed  nothing  to  the 
advancement  of  mankind :  a  race  of  slave-drivers, 
who,  to  perpetuate  human  slavery,  conspired  to  de- 
stroy the  Union,  and  plunged  the  country  into  war. 
Of  this  war,  precipitated  by  ourselves,  two  salient 
facts  are  known  —  that  in  it  we  were  whipped, 
and  that  we  treated  our  prisoners  with  barbarity. 
Libby  Prison  and  Andersonville  have  become  by- 
words which  fill  the  world  with  horror.  Why 
should  this  be,  when  the  real  fact  is  that  Libby  was 
the  best  lighted  and  ventilated  prison  on  either 
side;  when  the  horrors  of  Andersonville  were 
greatly  due  to  the  terrible  refusal  of  the  Northern 
government  to  exchange  prisoners  or  to  send  medi- 
cines to  their  sick ;  when  the  prisoners  there  fared 
as  well  as  our  men  in  the  field  and  when  the  treat- 
ment of  Southern  prisoners  in  Northern  prisons 
was  as  bad  if  not  worse  and  the  rate  of  mortality 
was  as  great  there  as  in  ours  ? 


THE   WANT   OP  A  HISTORY  255 

We  are  paraded  as  still  exhibiting  unconquered 
the  same  qualities  untempered  by  misfortune;  as 
nullifying  the  Constitution,  falsifying  the  ballot, 
trampling  down  a  weaker  race  in  an  extravagance 
of  cruelty,  and  with  shameless  arrogance  imperil- 
ling the  nation  as  much  now  as  when  we  went  to 
war. 

This  is  concisely  what  the  outer  world  thinks  of 
us,  and,  in  the  main,  honestly  thinks  of  us.  As 
the  issues  stand  and  with  the  record  as  it  is  at 
present  made  up,  this  is  what  posterity  will  think 
of  us. 

The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  is  generally  deemed 
a  standard  authority.  It  may  be  assumed  to  be 
impartial  on  all  American  matters  as  any  other 
authority.  In  its  article  on  "American  Litera- 
ture," Vol.  1,  p.  719,  it  says  this  of  the  South: 
"The  attractive  culture  of  the  South  has  been 
limited  in  extent  and  degree.  The  hothouse 
fruit  of  wealth  and  leisure,  it  has  never  struck  its 
roots  deeply  into  native  soil.  Since  the  Eevolution 
days  when  Virginia  was  the  nurse  of  statesmen,  the 
few  thinkers  of  America,  born  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line,  outnumbered  by  those  belonging  to 
the  single  State  of  Massachusetts,  have  commonly 
emigrated  to  New  York  or  Boston  in  search  of  a 
university  training.  In  the  world  of  letters,  at 
least,  the  Southern  States  have  shone  by  reflected 
light;  nor  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  mainly  by 
their  connection  with  the  North  the  Carolinas  have 


256  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

been  saved  from  sinking  to  the  level  of  Mexico  or 
the  Antilles." 

Think  of  this !  this  said  of  the  section  that  largely 
has  made  America,  governed  her,  administered  jus- 
tice from  her  highest  tribunal,  commanded  her 
armies  and  navies,  doubled  her  territory,  created 
her  greatness. 

How  many  are  here  in  this  audience  who  cannot 
tell  the  name  of  the  ship  that  brought  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  to  New  England,  and  then  went,  according 
to  tradition,  on  a  less  paternal  pilgrimage  ?  Prob- 
ably not  one ! 

Now  how  many  are  there  who  can  tell  the  names 
of  the  vessels  that  brought  first  to  the  shores  of  the 
South  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  which  reclaimed  Amer- 
ica, and  made  it  forever  the  home  of  liberty  and 
Christianity  ? 

They  were  the  Discovery,  the  Good-Speed,  and 
the  Susan-Constant. 

Does  not  the  relative  notoriety  of  the  two  prove 
that  the  history  of  the  South  has  been  regarded 
with  indifference  ?  The  men  borne  hither  by  these 
three  vessels,  and  not  the  passengers  on  the  May- 
flower, were  the  Argonauts  who  first  took  the 
Golden  Fleece,  this  golden  land. 

From  that  day  to  this  the  South  has  been  content 
to  act,  and  has  not  cared  for  the  judgment  of  her 
contemporaries,  much  less  of  posterity.  From  that 
day  the  deeds  which  have  added  a  new  continent 
to  Christendom  and  have  perpetuated  the  spirit  of 


THE   WANT   OF  A  HISTORY  257 

liberty  have  been  left  without  other  memorial  than 
their  own  existence  to  the  all-engulfing  maw  of  time. 

A  people  has  lived,  and  after  having  crowded 
into  two  centuries  and  a  half  a  mightiness  of  force, 
a  vastness  of  results,  which  would  have  enriched  a 
thousand  years,  has  passed  away,  and  has  left  no 
written  record  of  its  life.  A  civilization  has  existed 
more  unique  than  any  other  since  the  dawn  of  his- 
tory, as  potent  in  its  influence,  and  yet  no  chron- 
icle of  it  has  been  made  by  any  but  the  hand  of 
hostility. 

Is  there  any  history  of  this  country  which  you 
can  place  in  your  boy's  hands  and  say,  "  This  is 
the  true  history  of  your  native  land  "  ? 

I  do  not  belittle  the  local  chroniclers  who  have 
preserved  from  absolute  oblivion  the  records  of 
their  native  States.  On  the  contrary,  I  hold  them 
and  their  unrequited  toil  in  all  honor.  Except  for 
their  labors  of  love  the  story  of  the  Old  South 
would  have  been  lost  in  the  abyss  of  the  irreclaim- 
able past ;  we  should  have  been  forced  to  say  as 
we  used  to  say  in  the  old  games  of  our  childhood, 
"  Rats  have  eaten  it  and  fire  has  burnt  it." 

The  very  records  of  the  country  by  which  our 
rights  of  citizenship  are  established  have  been  lost 
by  reason  of  this  national  negligence. 

The  muniments  of  title  to  the  property  we  hold, 
nay,  the  very  proof  of  our  identity  and  position, 
social  and  legal,  have  been  disregarded  and  de- 
stroyed. 


258  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

I  doubt  if  a  large  proportion  of  the  respectable 
people  in  the  South  would  not,  if  they  were  called 
on  to  establish  the  legal  marriage  of  their  grand- 
parents, find  themselves  compelled  to  rely  on  gen- 
eral reputation. 

The  universal  indifference  at  the  South  to  the 
preservation  of  public  records  is  appalling. 

It  is  almost  incredible  that  a  race  so  proud  of  its 
position,  so  assertive  of  its  rights,  so  jealous  of  its 
reputation,  should  have  been  so  indifferent  to  all 
transmission  of  their  memorial. 

The  solution  of  the  mystery  is  to  be  found,  I  think, 
in  the  wonderful  rapidity  of  the  development  of  the 
country.  The  progress  of  the  nation  was  so  marvel- 
lous that  there  was  no  time  to  record  it.  Action 
was  so  intense  and  so  absorbing  that  no  leisure 
was  found  to  give  to  its  contemplation.  The  race 
was  so  momentous  that  young  Atalanta  had  no 
time  to  pause  even  to  secure  the  apples  of  the 
Hespe  rides. 

When  the  stern  exactions  of  colonial  life  gave 
place  to  the  gentler  phase  which  advancing  civili- 
zation brought,  the  transition  was  so  great  and  so 
sudden  that  the  senses  were  lulled  in  a  sweet  ob- 
livion to  the  demands  of  the  future,  and  were  satis- 
fied with  enjoyment  of  the  present.  It  was  a  life 
which  the  outer  world  misunderstood  and  mis- 
judged. The  spirit  of  the  Southerner,  accustomed 
as  he  was  to  domination,  was  not  such  as  to  take 
misjudgment  meekly.  He  met  it  with  a  pride 


THE   WANT   OF  A  HISTORY  259 

which  success  did  not  temper  and  defeat  could  not 
quell. 

He  was  eminently  self-contained,  and  his  own 
self-respect  satisfied,  he  cared  not  for  the  world's 
applause.  He  was  content  to  live  according  to  his 
own  will,  and  as  there  was  no  human  tribunal  to 
which  he  wished  to  submit  his  acts,  why  should  he 
keep  a  record  of  his  life  ? 

Thus  it  is,  that  the  only  history  of  the  South  is 
that  contained  in  the  journals  of  the  time,  and  in 
the  fragmentary  minutes  of  the  polemic  warfare 
in  which  a  large  part  of  the  population  was  unceas- 
ingly engaged,  and  the  South  is  to-day  practically 
without  a  written  history.  I  cannot  accept  as  her 
true  history  the  dissertations  composed  in  part  of 
the  disjointed  records  divorced  from  the  circum- 
stances which  called  them  into  being,  and  for  the 
rest,  of  the  lubrications  of  the  hostile  or  the  un- 
sympathetic commentator.  Her  history  must  have 
another  source  than  this. 

From  the  birth  of  the  American  people  the  two 
sections  of  the  country  were  the  North  and  the 
South.  Mason  and  Dixou's  line  stretched  from  the 
East  to  the  West  before  it  received  its  baptismal 
name. 

The  origins  of  the  two  populations  were  differ- 
ent. The  tendencies  were  yet  more  diverse.  Two 
essentially  diverse  civilizations  were  the  result. 
That  of  the  North  was  compact,  cohesive,  and  com- 
mercial. The  settlement  was  in  towns  or  town- 


260  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

ships.  The  municipality  possessed  and  exercised 
powers  which  never  could  have  been  tolerated  at 
the  South.  That  of  the  South  was  diffusive  and 
agricultural.  It  tended  to  the  development  of  the 
individual,  and  to  guardfulness  of  his  rights.  As- 
sertion of  the  rights,  privileges,  and  franchises  of 
the  individual  was  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  the 
South.  The  Southerner  bore  this  with  him  as  an 
inalienable  heritage  wherever  he  went,  into  prime- 
val forests  and  across  mountain  ranges.  Kentucky 
had  yet  hard  work  to  hold  her  own  against  the  sav- 
age when  she  was  adopting  her  celebrated  resolu- 
tions. 

The  New  Englander  went  to  his  meeting-house 
to  receive  instruction  and  to  accept  direction  from 
the  authorized  powers,  spiritual  and  temporal. 

The  Southerner  rode  through  trackless  forests 
to  argue  questions  as  to  their  powers  and  their 
authority. 

At  first  the  interests  of  the  two  sections  were 
not  merely  not  identical,  but  were  conflicting,  until 
the  coalition  between  the  French  and  the  Indian, 
bringing  identity  of  danger,  created  identit}^  of  in- 
terest. The  tyranny  of  the  British  crown  continued 
this  cause  and  brought  the  two  sections,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  common  defence,  into  a  close  confederation. 
The  restrictions  and  the  impotency  of  this  confeder- 
acy were  so  great,  and  the  advantages  of  a  "more 
perfect  union  "  were  so  manifest,  that  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  gave  way  to  a  new  compact,  embrac- 


THE   WANT  OF  A   HISTORY  261 

ing  such  " alterations  and  provisions"  as  seemed 
necessary  to  "render  the  Federal  Constitution  ad- 
equate to  the  exigencies  of  government  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Union." 

The  result  was  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

Hardly  had  the  Union  been  established  before 
the  divergent  interests  of  the  two  sections  reas- 
serted themselves.  From  this  time  the  struggle 
on  the  part  of  each  was  to  obtain  ascendency,  and 
to  control  the  government,  each  jealously  opposing 
every  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  other  to  ex- 
tend its  power.  Unfortunately,  a  factor  remained 
which  rendered  harmony  impossible.  African 
slavery,  which  at  one  time  had  been  as  acceptable 
at  the  North  as  at  the  South,  had  been  found  not 
suited  to  the  latitude  nor  to  the  peculiar  civilization 
which  existed  there.  It  was,  therefore,  in  process 
of  abolition,  and  in  a  comparatively  brief  period, 
through  the  instrumentalities  of  emancipation,  and 
of  transference,  it  disappeared  at  the  North. 

After  a  time  hostility  to  this  institution  be- 
came the  excitant  of  the  popular  mind  against  the 
South,  and  was  the  lever  with  which  the  politi- 
cians worked  the  overthrow  of  this  section.  At 
the  period  of  which  I  speak,  however,  its  legality 
was  as  frankly  admitted  at  the  North  as  at  the 
South ;  it  was,  indeed,  expressly  recognized  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  it  was  only 
one  of  a  number  of  differences  which  brought  the 


262  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

two  sections  into  opposition,  and  finally  precipi- 
tated a  war. 

The  real  cause  of  the  antagonism  of  the  two  sec- 
tions at  that  day  was  the  sectional  rivalry  which 
existed  between  them.  The  Southern  States  at 
first  had  a  large  excess  of  territory ;  but  when  the 
first  census  was  taken  in  1790  there  was  but  a  small 
numerical  excess  over  the  population  of  the  North, 
and  counting  the  States  about  to  be  admitted,  each 
section  had  the  same  number  of  States. 

In  order  to  disarm  jealousy  growing  out  of  excess 
of  area,  and  to  facilitate  the  union,  Virginia,  the 
largest  and  most  powerful  State,  stripped  herself 
of  her  vast  northwestern  territory  and  ceded  to  the 
general  government  that  region  from  which,  since 
then,  have  been  carved  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  and  a  large  part  of  Minnesota. 

Then  she  gave  her  heart,  Kentucky.  These 
States,  with  one  exception,  were  settled  by  a  North- 
ern population,  and  became  Northern  in  sentiment, 
throwing  a  heavy  preponderance  into  the  Northern 
scale,  and  destroying  the  equilibrium  which  had 
existed,  and  upon  which  depended  the  peace  and 
security  of  the  nation. 

From  this  time,  the  South  was  never  permitted 
to  increase  her  power  without  a  corresponding  in- 
crement to  the  North.  Every  step  taken  to  restore 
the  old  equipoise  was  met  and  resisted  as  tending 
to  Southern  aggrandizement,  and  as  a  blow  at  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  North.  The  purchase 


THE   WANT   OF   A   HISTORY  263 

of  the  vast  territory  of  Louisiana  as  early  as  1803, 
and  the  admission  of  a  State  carved  from  the  new 
acquisition,  excited  such  violent  opposition  at  the 
North  that  warnings  came  from  New  England 
threatening  to  dissolve  the  Union,  which  implied  a 
view  of  the  social  compact  not  altogether  consistent 
with  that  subsequently  taken  by  New  England 
statesmen.  In  1812-15  New  England,  her  trade 
being  injured  by  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  again 
threatened  to  secede.  Not  a  great  many  years 
afterward,  in  1819-20,  the  attempt  to  bring  into 
the  Union  another  portion  of  the  vast  Louisiana 
domain  as  the  State  of  Missouri  brought  the  strug- 
gle to  a  climax,  and  the  existence  of  the  Union 
was  again  seriously  imperilled  by  the  menace  on 
the  part  of  Northern  States  to  dissolve  it. 

The  difficulty  was  finally  temporarily  arranged 
by  the  noted  Missouri  Compromise,  which  admitted 
Missouri  as  a  State,  but  prohibited  slavery  in  all 
that  portion  of  the  Louisiana  territory  (except  Mis- 
souri only)  lying  north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  this  philanthropic  pro- 
vision, which  was  effected  by  the  Northern  vote, 
was  due  to  abhorrence  of  the  peculiar  institution 
which  existed  at  the  South.  The  histories  we  have 
been  brought  up  on  teach  this.  The  fact  is  other- 
wise. Long  subsequent  to  this,  Abolitionists  were 
held  in  equal  contempt  and  encountered  equal  oblo- 
quy at  the  North  and  at  the  South. 

The  provision  embraced  in   the  Missouri  Com- 


264  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

promise  was  based  on  the  facts  that  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  property  of  Southerners  consisted  of 
slaves ;  that  when  the  Southerner  emigrated,  he, 
like  Abraham  of  old,  carried  his  slaves  with  him  ; 
and  that  if  he  could  not  take  them,  he  remained 
where  he  was.  It  was  an  effective  means  of  pre- 
venting the  extension  of  Southern  influence.  This 
was  the  first  time  that  the  sentiment  against  slavery 
was  utilized  as  a  lever  to  aid  the  North  in  its 
struggle  for  sectional  supremacy.  It  was  not  des- 
tined to  be  the  last  time.  It  was  found  to  be  so 
potent  a  power  that  it  was. employed  until  event- 
ually the  Northern  people  came  to  believe  them- 
selves the  chosen  people  of  Israel  and  looked  on 
the  Southerners  as  the  outcasts  of  the  Gentiles. 

It  was  in  this  controversy  that  the  term  "  Seces- 
sion "  was  first  applied  as  indicating  the  action  of 
a  State  in  withdrawing  from  the  Union. 

In  the  light  of  subsequent  events  it  is  interesting 
to  know  that  its  use  in  this  sense  was  due  to  a 
Northerner  who  threatened  the  South  with  a  seces- 
sion on  the  part  of  his  people.  This  fixed  intention 
on  the  part  of  the  North  to  retain  supremacy  was 
manifested  when  Southern  sagacity  and  statesman- 
ship annexed  the  empire  of  Texas. 

Again  the  North  resisted  this  extension  of  the 
Union  even  to  the  point  of  a  threat  to  secede  and 
destroy  it.  It  was  exhibited  again  upon  the  acqui- 
sition of  California  and  New  Mexico  from  Mexico. 
The  line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  extended 


THE   WANT   OF  A  HISTORY  265 

West  through  the  Texan  territory,  because  Texas 
was  Southern  already,  but  when  the  Mexican  do- 
main was  acquired,  the  North  repudiated  the  prin- 
ciple of  extension  and  claimed  and  took  it  all. 

By  these  acts  it  was  strong  enough  to  maintain 
its  supremacy  in  the  government,  and  its  power 
was  exercised  to  establish  a  system  of  protection 
which  fostered  the  manufacturers  of  the  North  and 
imposed  the  principal  burden  of  taxation  on  the 
non-manufacturing  South.  Whilst  the  South  gov- 
erned the  country,  maintained  her  credit,  extended 
her  limits,  fought  her  battles,  and  established  her 
fame,  the  North  secured  protection  and  under  its 
influences  waxed  fat. 

Meantime  the  doctrine  of  abolition  had  flourished. 
In  a  generation  it  attained  full  growth.  The  sacred 
name  of  Liberty  inspires  the  human  heart. 

The  propagandists  of  abolition  appealed  not  to 
the  Northern  people,  but  to  Christendom,  and  the 
South  stood  at  once  with  the  forces  of  the  world 
arrayed  against  her.  Her  every  act  was  misjudged, 
her  every  word  was  misinterpreted. 

She  met  this  censure  with  sublime  scorn.  Ar- 
raigned at  the  judgment  bar,  she  hurled  defiance 
at  her  judges. 

She  devoted  all  her  intellectual  resources,  and 
they  were  immense,  to  polemical  warfare.  In  her 
intemperate  anger  she  permitted  herself  to  abandon 
her  point  of  vantage.  She  exercised  her  constitu- 
tional privilege  and  seceded.  A  great  sentiment 


266  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

for  the  Union  suddenly  thrilled  the  North.  It 
declared  war.  The  result  is  known. 

It  is  to  this  section,  heretofore  inherently  inca- 
pable of  comprehending  her,  that  the  South  has  left 
the  writing  of  the  history  of  her  civilization.  It 
may  appear  to  be  not  a  matter  of  importance  who 
writes  the  story  of  this  country.  Manifestly  the 
South  has  so  regarded  it.  It  is,  however,  a  sad 
fallacy. 

The  writings  of  the  propagandists  of  the  North 
destroyed  the  power  of  the  South  and  brought  her 
to  destruction. 

And  now  unless  we  look  to  it  we  shall  go  down 
to  posterity  as  a  blot  on  our  time,  and  a  reproach 
to  American  civilization. 

Does  this  seem  to  you  a  small  thing  ?  In  it  lies 
the  difference  between  fame  and  infamy,  between 
corruption  and  immortality. 

Does  it  appear  to  you  impossible  ?  Do  we  not 
now  stand  at  the  bar  of  history,  charged  with  the 
crime  of  attempting  to  perpetuate  human  slavery, 
and  for  this  purpose  with  conspiracy  to  destroy 
the  best  government  the  world  has  ever  seen  — 
the  American  Union  ? 

We  do  stand  so  charged,  and  if  we  refuse  to  make 
our  defence,  the  judgment  of  history  will  be  against 
us  for  all  time. 

Before  fifty  years  shall  have  passed,  unless  we 
look  to  it,  the  South's  action  will  have  gone  into 
history  as  the  defence  of  human  slavery,  and  it 


THE   WANT  OF  A    HISTORY  267 

will  be  deemed  the  world  over  to  have  been  as  great 
a  crime  against  nature  as  the  slave  trade  itself. 

How  may  this  be  avoided  ?  By  establishing  the 
fact  that  it  was  not  the  South,  but  the  time,  which 
was  responsible  for  slavery ;  and  that  this  slavery 
with  all  its  evils,  and  they  were  many,  was  the  only_ 
civilizer  that  the  African  has  yet  known.  By  re- 
cording  ere  it  be  too  late  tne  true  nisVory  of  the 
South ;  by  preserving  and  transmitting  the  real  life 
of  that  civilization,  so  that  future  ages  may  know 
not  what  its  enemies  thought  it  to  be,  but  what  it 
in  truth  was. 

Up  to  the  present  more  than  half  of  the  material 
for  a  history  of  this  nation  has  been  overlooked  — 
the  material  contained  in  the  life  of  the  Southern 
people.  The  history  that  has  been  written  is  as  an 
ancient  palimpsest,  in  which  the  writing  that  is 
read  is  but  a  monkish  legend,  whilst  underneath,  un- 
noticed and  effaced,  lies  the  record  of  eternal  truth. 

It  remains  now  to  suggest  a  few  elements  of  the 
material  from  which  the  only  true  history  of  the 
South  and  of  this  nation  is  to  be  constructed. 

One  of  the  chief  elements  of  strength  in  the  old 
civilization  of  the  South  was  self-respect.  Arro- 
gant, as  it  is  charged  to  have  been,  and  as  it  may 
have  been,  pride  lifted  it  above  all  meanness  and 
elevated  it  into  the  realm  of  greatness.  Its  stan- 
dard was  so  high  that  contemplation  of  it  made  men 
upright,  and  aspiration  to  it  made  them  noble.  I 
belong  to  the  new  order  of  Southern  life.  I  am  one 


268  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

of  those  who  can  feel  the  thrill  of  new  energies  fill 
my  heart ;  I  think  I  can  see  and  admit  the  incal- 
culable waste,  the  narrow  limitations  of  the  old. 
I  give  my  loyal  and  enthusiastic  adherence  to  the 
present,  with  all  its  fresh  and  glorious  possibilities ; 
but  I  shall  never  forget  that  it  is  to  the  Old  South 
that  the  New  South  owes  all  that  is  best  and  noblest 
in  its  being. 

Can  we  ever  secure  the  respect  of  the  world  if 
we  have  no  self-respect  ? 

Keverence  for  the  greatness  of  its  past,  pride  of 
race,  are  two  cardinal  elements  in  national  strength. 

They  made  the  Greek ;  they  made  the  Roman ; 
they  made  the  Saxon ;  they  made  the  Southerner. 

We  are  the  inheritors  of  a  thousand  years  of 
courage  and  of  devotion  to  principle.  And  without 
these  two  things  we  should  deserve  the  contempt 
of  mankind  and  the  reprobation  of  God. 

Contemporary  history  is  being  recorded  by  writ- 
ers organically  disabled  to  comprehend  the  action 
of  the  South.  It  rests  with  the  South  whether  she 
shall  go  down  to  posterity  as  they  have  pictured 
her  —  the  breeder  of  tyrants,  the  defender  of  slav- 
ery, the  fomenter  of  treason. 

Scripta  ferunt  annos. 

We  are  not  a  race  to  pass  and  leave  no  memorial 
on  our  time.  We  live  with  more  than  Grecian 
energy.  We  must  either  leave  our  history  to  be 
written  by  those  who  do  not  understand  it,  or  we 
must  write  it  ourselves. 


THE   WANT   OF   A   HISTORY  269 

If  we  are  willing  to  be  handed  down  to  coming 
time  as  a  race  of  slave-drivers  and  traitors,  it  is  as 
well  to  continue  in  our  state  of  lethargy  and  acqui- 
escence; but  if  we  retain  the  instincts  of  men, 
and  desire  to  transmit  to  our  children  the  untar- 
nished name  and  spotless  fame  which  our  fore- 
fathers bequeathed  to  us,  we  must  awake  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  matter.  We  stand  charged  at  the 
judgment  bar  of  history  with  these  crimes.  It  is 
useless  to  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact.  We  stand  so 
indicted,  and  posterity  is  the  tribunal  that  shall 
try  us.  If  we  refuse  to  plead,  the  opportunity  will 
pass  away,  the  verdict  of  time  will  be  "guilty," 
and  the  punishment  will  be  the  peine  forte  et  dure. 
To  leave  us  perpetually  bound  under  the  burden  of 
guilt  which  some  would  bind  on  our  shoulders, 
would  be  to  withdraw  from  the  divine  heritage  of 
patriotism  the  best  soil  for  its  growth  on  this  conti- 
nent ;  to  debar  from  its  influences  the  best  material 
for  war  that  the  Anglo-American  race  has  produced. 

Whatever  else  may  be  said,  of  this  much  are  we 
sure,  that  the  South  and  its  civilization  produced  a 
race  of  soldiers  wnicn  has  never  been  surpassed. 
Present  History  may  multiply  her  numbers  and 
magnify  her  resources,  but  the  original  archives 
show  with  a  conclusiveness  which  cannot  be  with- 
stood, the  splendid  heroism  of  the  fight  which, 
under  the  inspiration  of  what  she  deemed  a  sacred 
cause,  she  made  not  against  the  Union,  but  against 
the  world. 


270  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

It  was  not  for  interest  that  she  fought ;  for  war 
was  not  to  her  interest.  It  was  not  to  dissolve  the 
Union  that  she  seceded ;  for  secession  was  again 
and  again  rejected  by  the  border  States.  It  was 
only  when  war  was  declared  and  the  Constitution 
was  set  aside  that  these  States,  driven  to  their  last 
resort,  and,  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  call  for  troops,  forced 
to  take  the  one  side  or  the  other,  to  secede  or  to 
invade  their  sister  States,  exercised  their  constitu- 
tional rights  and  withdrew  from  the  Union. 
/  A  proof  of  the  deep  sincerity  of  their  principles 
is  the  unanimity  with  which  the  South  accepted  the 
issue.  From  the  moment  that  war  was  declared, 
the  whole  people  were  in  arms.  It  was  not  merely 
the  secessionist  who  enlisted,  but  the  stanch  Union 
man;  not. ..simply  the  slave-holder,  but  the  moun- 
taineer ;  the  poor  white  fought  as  valorously  as  the 
great  land-owner  ;  the  women  fought  as  well  as  the 
men;  for,  whilst  the  men  were  in  the  field  the 
women  and  children  at  home  waited  and  starved 
without  a  murmur  and  without  a  doubt.  ./ 

Some  years  ago  I  was  shown  a  worn  and  faded 
letter  written  on  old  Confederate  paper  with  pale 
Confederate  ink.  It  had  been  taken  from  the 
breast-pocket  of  a  dead  private  soldier  of  a  Georgia 
regiment  after  one  of  the  battles  around  Eich- 
mond.  It  was  from  his  sweetheart.  They  were 
plain  and  illiterate  people,  for  it  was  badly  written 
and  badly  spelled.  In  it  she  told  him  that  she 
loved  him ;  that  she  had  always  loved  him  since 


THE   WANT  OF   A   HISTORY  271 

they  had  gone  to  school  together,  in  the  little  log 
schoolhouse  in  the  woods ;  that  she  was  sorry  she 
had  always  treated  him  so  badly,  and  that  now,  if 
he  would  get  a  furlough  and  come  home,  she  would 
marry  him. 

Then,  as  if  fearful  that  this  temptation  might 
prove  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  there  was  a  little 
postscript  scrawled  across  the  blue  Confederate 
paper:  "Don't  come  without  a  furlough,  for  if 
you  don't  come  honorable,  I  won't  marry  you." 

Was  this  the  spirit  of  rebellion  ?  A  whole  people 
was  in  arms.  A  nation  had  arisen.  It  was  the 
apotheosis  of  a  race. 

When  Varro  lost  the  battle  of  Cannae,  where 
the  flower  of  the  Roman  knighthood  was  cut  down, 
the  Roman  Senate  voted  thanks  to  the  consul  quod 
de  republica  non  desperasset  ;  when  Lee,  with  tat- 
tered standards  and  broken  battalions,  recrossed 
the  Potomac,  after  Gettysburg,  the  South  exhibited 
greater  devotion  to  him  than  when  he  forced  Burn- 
side  staggering  back  across  the  Rappahannock. 
When  he  abandoned  Richmond  and  started  on  his 
march  Southward,  the  South  still  trusted  him  as 
implicitly  as  when,  with  consummate  generalship 
and  a  loss  to  the  enemy  of  more  than  his  own 
entire  army,  he  had  at  Spottsylvania  wedged  Grant 
from  his  prey. 

That  last  retreat  surpasses  in  heroism  the  retreat 
of  the  Ten  Thousand.  There  was  but  a  handful 
left  of  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia.  The  attri- 


272  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

tion  of  four  years  of  war  had  worn  away  the  heroic 
army.  Starvation  had  destroyed  a  part  of  what  the 
sword  had  left,  and  had  shrunken  the  forms  of  the 
small  remnant;  but  the  glorious  courage,  the  in- 
domitable spirit  of  the  Southern  soldiery  gleamed 
forth;  and  it  had  no  more  thought  of  surrender 
then  than  when  it  had  first  burst  into  flame  on  the 
victorious  field  of  Bull  Run.  It  was  the  crystalli- 
zation of  Southern  courage. 

Across  the  desolated  land  it  retired  like  a 
wounded  lion,  sore  pressed  by  unnumbered  foes  — 
stopping  only  to  fight,  for  there  was  no  rest  nor 
food,  until  at  last  on  that  fateful  morning  it  found 
the  horizon  filled  with  steel.  It  was  hemmed  in  by 
the  enemy,  by  the  best  equipped  army  that  has 
stood  on  American  soil,  led  by  one  of  the  greatest 
generals,  the  magnanimous  Grant,  and  the  Southern 
general  saw  that  resistance  was  annihilation.  Even 
in  that  hour  of  its  extremity,  the  one  cry  of  the 
little  band  to  the  adored  Lee  was  to  be  led  against 
them  once  more. 

The  chronicler,  who  can  see  in  this  only  the  per- 
verseness  of  rebellion,  lacks  the  essential  spirit  of 
the  historian.  The  politician  who  can  discuss  it 
with  derision  or  can  view  it  with  indifference  will 
never  rise  to  the  plane  of  statesmanship. 

The  deliberate  and  persistent  endeavor  to  hold 
in  contempt  the  people  that  could  produce  so  sub- 
lime a  spectacle  and  to  forbid  them  participation  in 
the  Union,  is  a  greater  wrong  to  the  Nation  than 


THE   WANT   OF   A   HISTORY  273 

was  secession.  It  is  an  attempt  to  keep  alienated 
from  the  Union  a  race  that  has  ever  hated  with 
fervor  but  loved  with  passion  ;  of  a  race  that  with- 
drew from  the  Union  under  a  belief  in  a  principle 
so  sincere,  so  deep,  that  it  was  almost  idolatrous; 
of  a  race  that  has  now  under  new  conditions  turned 
to  the  Union  all  the  devotion  which  under  different 
teaching  and  conditions  was  once  given  to  the  sev- 
eral States ;  devotion  which  when  directed  against 
the  Union  shook  it  to  its  foundation,  and  now  is 
destined  to  guard  it  and  preserve  it  throughout  its 
existence. 

The  history  of  the  South  is  yet  to  be  written. 
He  who  writes  it  need  not  fear  for  his  reward. 
Such  a  one  must  have  at  once  the  instinct  of  the 
historian  and  the  wisdom  of  the  philosopher.  He 
must  possess  the  talisman  that  shall  discover  truth 
amid  all  the  heaps  of  falsehood,  though  they  were 
piled  upon  it  like  Pelion  on  Ossa.  He  must  have 
the  sagacity  to  detect  whatever  of  evil  existed  in 
the  civilization  he  shall  chronicle,  though  it  be 
gleaming  with  the  gilding  of  romance;  he  must 
have  the  fortitude  to  resist  all  temptation  to  deflect 
by  so  much  as  a  hair's  breadth  from  the  absolute 
and  the  inexorable  facts,  even  if  an  angel  should 
attempt  to  beguile  him.  He  must  know  and  tell 
the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth,  so  help  him,  God ! 


THE   NEGRO   QUESTION 


THE   NEGRO  QUESTION 

To  any  calm  observer  of  the  present  condition  of 
our  country  painfully  apparent  must  be  the  differ- 
ence between  the  state  of  what  from  long  usage  we 
are  accustomed  to  term  "  the  two  sections." 

We  have  one  language,  one  blood,  one  religion, 
one  common  end,  one  government ;  but  the  North 
and  the  South  are  still  "  the  two  sections,"  as  they 
were  one  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  bands  of  the 
Constitution  were  hardly  cooled  from  the  welding, 
or  as  they  were  in  1860,  when  they  stood,  armed 
to  the  teeth,  facing  each  other,  and  the  cloud  of 
revolution  was  hovering  above  them  soon  to  burst 
in  the  dread  thunder  of  civil  war. 

Should  one,  hearing  the  phrase  "the  two  sec- 
tions," take  the  map  of  the  American  Union  and 
study  its  salient  features,  he  would  declare  that  the 
two  sections  were  by  natural  geographical  division 
the  East  and  the  West;  should  he  study  the  com- 
merce of  the  country  with  its  vast  currents  and 
tides,  its  fields  of  agriculture  and  manufacture,  he 
would  be  impelled  to  declare  that  by  all  the  inex- 
orable laws  of  interest  they  were  the  East  and  the 
West.  And  yet  we  who  stand  amid  the  incontest- 

277 


278  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

able  evidences  of  events  know  that  against  all  laws, 
against  all  reason,  against  all  right,  there  are  two 
sections  of  this  country,  and  they  are  not  the  East 
and  the  West,  but  the  South  and  the  rest  of  the 
Union. 

"  It  is  proposed  to  show  briefly  why  this  unhappy 
condition  exists ;  and  to  suggest  a  few  things  which, 
if  earnestly  considered  and  patiently  advocated, 
may,  in  the  providence  of  God,  contribute  to  the 
solution  of  the  distressing  difficulties  which  con- 
front us. 

The  divergence  of  the  "  two  sections  "  was  coeval 
with  the  planting  of  the  continent ;  it  preceded  the 
establishment  of  the  nation.  It  steadily  increased 
until  an  irrepressible  conflict  became  inevitable  ; 
and  it  was  not  until  after  this  conflict  had  spent 
itself  that  reconcilement  became  possible. 

The  causes  of  that  divergence,  with  the  exception 
of  one,  it  is  not  necessary  to  discuss.  This  one  has 
survived  even  the  cauterization  of  war.  Other 
causes  have  passed  away.  The  right  of  seci-ssiun 
is  no  longer  an  active  issue.  It  has  been  adjudi- 
cated. That  it  once  existed  and  was  utilized  on 
occasion  by  other  States  than  those  which  actually 
exercised  it  is  undeniable ;  that  it  passed  away 
with  the  Confederate  armies  at  Appomattox  is 
equally  beyond  controversy.  The  very  men  who 
once  asserted  it  and  shed  their  blood  to  establish  it, 
would  now,  whilst  still  standing  by  the  Tightness 
of  their  former  position,  admit  that  in  the  light  of 


THE   NEGRO   QUESTION  279 

altered  conditions  the  Union  is  no  longer  dissoluble. 
They  are  ready  if  need  be  to  maintain  the  fact.  It 
is,  however,  important  to  make  it  clear  that  the 
right  did.exist,  because  on  this  depends  largely  the 
South's  place  in  history.  Without  this  we  were  „ 
mere  insurgents  and  rebels ;  with  it,  we  were  a  / 
great  people  in  revolution  for  our  rights.  In  1861 
the  South  stood  aligned  against  the  Union  and 
apparently  for  the  perpetuation  of  slavery.  The 
sentiment  of  the  whole  world  was  against  it.  We 
were  defeated,  overwhelmed.  Unless  we  possess 
strength  sufficient  to  maintain  ourselves  even  in' 
the  face  of  this,  the  verdict  of  posterity  will  be 
against  us.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  in  fifty  years 
the  defence  of  slavery  will  be  deemed  the  world 
over  to  have  been  as  barbarous  as  we  now  deem 
the  slave-trade  to  have  been.  There  is  but  one 
way  to  prevent  the  impending  disaster :  by  estab- 
lishing the  real  fact,  that,  whatever  may  have  been 
the  immediate  and  apparent  occasion,  the  true  and 
ultimate  cause  of  the  action  of  the  South  was  her 
firm  and  unwavering  adherence  to  the  principle  of 
self-government  and  her  jealous  devotion  to  her 
inalienable  rights.  By  perpetuating  the  true  and 
splendid  story  of  the  real  position  of  the  South, 
and  of  the  heroic  stand  which  she  made  for  her 
rights  during  those  four  years  of  trial,  want,  and 
battle,  we  can  wrest  fame  from  defeat  and  establish 
her  true  place  in  history. 

But  if  the  other  causes  which  kept  the  country 


280  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

divided  have  passed  away  as  practical  issues,  one 
still  survives  and  is,  under  a  changed  form,  as  vital 
to-day  and  as  pregnant  with  evil  as  it  was  in  1861. 

This  is  the  question  which  ever  confronts  the 
South ;  the  question  which  after  twenty-five  years 
of  peace  and  prosperity  still  keeps  the  South  "  one 
section  "  and  the  rest  of  the  nation  the  other.  This 
is  the  ever-present,  ever-menacing,  ever-growing 
negroj^ugstion. 

It  is  to-day  the  most  portentous  as  the  most 
dangerous  problem  which  confronts  the  American 
people. 

The  question  is  so  misunderstood  that  even  the 
terminology  for  it  in  the  two  sections  varies  irrec- 
oncilably. The  North  terms  it  simply  the  ques- 
tion of  the  civil  equality  of  all  citizens  before  the 
law;  the  South  denominates  it  the  question  of 
negro  domination.  More  accurately  it  should  be 
termed  the  race  question. 

Whatever  its  proper  title  may  be,  upon  its  cor- 
rect solution  depend  the  progress  and  the  security, 
if  not  the  very  existence,  of  the  American  people. 

In  order  that  it  may  be  solved  it  is  necessary, 
first,  that  its  real  gravity  shall  be  understood,  and 
its  true  difficulties  apprehended. 

We  have  lived  in  quietude  so  long,  and  have  be- 
come so  accustomed  to  the  condition  of  affairs,  that 
we  are  sensible  of  no  apprehension,  but  rest  in  the 
face  of  this  as  of  other  dangers,  content  and  calm. 
So  rest  Alpine  dwellers  who  sleep  beneath  masses 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  281 

of  snow  which  have  accumulated  for  years,  and  yet, 
quiet  as  they  appear  upon  the  mountain-sides  above, 
may  at  any  time  without  warning,  by  the  breaking 
of  a  twig  or  the  fall  of  a  pebble,  be  transformed 
into  the  resistless  and  overwhelming  avalanche. 

There  are  signs  of  impending  peril  about  us. 

There  is,  first,  the  danger  incident  to  the  exigence 
under  which  the  South  has  stood,  and  is  standing, 
of  wresting  if  not  of  subverting  the  written  law  to 
what  she  deems  the  inexorable  exactions  of  her 
condition. 

It  is  charged  that  the  written  law  is  not  always 
fully  and  freely  observed  at  the  South  in  matters 
relating  to  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise. 
.The  defence  is  not  so  much  a  denial  of  the  charge 
as  it  is  a  confession  and  avoidance.  To  the  accusa- 
tion it  is  replied  that  the  written  law,  when  sub- 
verted at  all,  is  so  subverted  only  in  obedience  to 
a  higher  law  founded  on  the  instinct  of  self-protec- 
tion and  self-preservation. 

If  it  be  admitted  that  this  is  true,  is  it  nothing 
to  us  that  a  condition  exists  which  necessitates  the 
subversion  of  any  law  ?  Is  it  not  an  injury  to  our 
people  that  the  occasion  exists  which  places  them 
in  conflict  with  the  law,  and  compels  them  to 
assert  the  existence  of  a  higher  duty  ?  Can  law 
be  overridden  without  creating  a  spirit  which  will 
override  law  ?  a  spirit  ready  to  constitute  itself  the 
judge  of  what  shall  and  what  shall  not  be  consid- 
ered law ;  a  spirit  which  eventually  substitutes  its 


282  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

will  for  law  arid  confounds  its  interest  with  right  ? 
Is  it  a  small  matter  that  our  people  or  any  part  of 
them  should  be  compelled,  by  any  exigency  what- 
ever, to  go  armed  at  any  time  in  any  place  in 
defiance  of  law  ? 

This  is  a  grave  matter  and  is  to  be  considered 
with  due  deliberation ;  for  on  its  right  solution 
much  depends.  The  first  step  to  cure  is  ever  com- 
prehension of  the  disease.  The  first  step  toward 
the  proper  solution  of  our  trouble  is  to  secure  a 
perfect  comprehension  of  it.  To  do  this  we  must 
first  comprehend  it  ourselves,  and  then  only  can 
we-hope  to  enlighten  others. 

Obedience  to  law,  willing  and  invariable  submis- 
sion to  law,  is  one  of  the  highest  qualities  of  a 
nation,  and  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  national 
elevation.  Antagonism  to  law,  a  spirit  which  re- 
jects the  restraints  of  law,  retards  national  progress. 

Can  any  fraud,  evasion,  or  contrivance  whatever 
be  practised  or  connived  at,  without  by  so  much 
impairing  the  moral  sense  and  character  of  a  people 
as  well  as  of  an  individual  ?  Can  any  deflection 
Avhatsoever,  no  matter  how  inexorable  the  occasion, 
from  the  path  of  absolute  rectitude  be  tolerated 
without  inflicting  an  injury  on  that  sense  of  justice 
and  right,  which,  allied  to  unflinching  courage,  con- 
stitutes a  nation's  virtue  ?  Who  will  say  that  the 
moral  sense  of  our  people  now  is  as  lofty  as  it  was 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  when  men  voted  with 
uplifted  faces  for  the  candidate  of  their  choice  ? 


THE   NEGRO   QUESTION  283 

The  press  of  a  portion  of  the  land  is  filled  Avith 
charges  of  injuries  to  the  negro.  The  real  injury 
is  not  to  him,  but  to  the  white.  From  opposition 
to  law  to  actual  lawlessness  is  but  a  step.  This  is 
the  first  danger. 

The  physical  peril  from  the  overcrowding  among 
our  people  of  an  ignorant  and  hostile  race  is  not 
more  real  than  this  which  threatens  our  moral 
rectitude ;  but  it  is  more  apparent. 

Senator  Hoar  of  Massachusetts,  speaking  on  the 
floor  of  the  United  States  Senate  on  the  23d  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1889,  in  speaking  of  the  South,  said  : 

"  I  make  these  remarks  with  full  knowledge  of 
the  difficult  problem  that  awaits  us,  and  the  prob- 
lem that  especially  concerns  our  friends  south  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line ;  but  I  remember  when  I 
make  them  that  the  person  hears  the  sound  of  my 
voice  this  moment  who,  in  his  lifetime,  will  see 
fifty  million  negroes  dwelling  in  those  States." 

Can  language  paint  in  stronger  colors  the  peril 
which  confronts  us  ?  The  senator  went  on  to 
depict  the  evils  which  might  ensue.  "If  you  go 
on,"  he  said,  "with  these  methods  which  are  re- 
ported to  us  on  what  we  deem  pretty  good  evidence, 
you  are  sowing  in  the  breast  of  that  race  a  seed 
from  which  is  to  come  a  harvest  of  horror  and 
blood,  to  which  the  French  Kevolution  or  San  Do- 
mingo is  light  in  comparison." 

Senator  Hoar,  like  most  others  of  his  latitude, 
thinks  that  he  knows  the  negro,  and  understands 


THE   OLD    SOUTH 


the  pending  question.  He  does  not.  Had  he  under- 
stood the  true  gravity  of  that  problem,  his  cheek, 
as  he  caught  the  echo  of  his  own  words,  would  have 
blanched  at  the  thought  of  the  peril  he  is  trans- 
mitting to  his  children  and  grandchildren ;  not  the 
peril  perhaps  of  fire  and  massacre,  but  a  peril  as 
deadly,  the  peril  of  contamination  from  the  over- 
crowding of  an  inferior  race.  All  other  evils  are 
but  corollaries;  the  evil  of  race-conflict,  though  not 
so  awful  as  the  French  Revolution  or  San  Domingo ; 
the  evil  of  growing  armies  with  their  menace  to 
liberty ;  the  evil  of  race-degeneration  from  enforced 
and  constant  association  with  an  inferior  race  :  these 
are  some  of  the  perils  which  spring  from  that  state 
of  affairs  and  confront  us.  At  one  more  step  they 
confront  the  rest  of  the  Anglo-American  people 
to-day.  For  the  only  thing  that  stands  to-day 
between  the  people  of  the  North  and  the  negro  is 
the  people  of  the  South. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion exists  in  the  different  views  held  as  to  it  by 
the  two  sections.  They  do  not  understand  it  alike. 
They  stand  as  widely  divided  as  to  it  to-day  as  they 
stood  twenty-five  years  ago.  Their  ultimate  inter- 
ests are  identical ;  their  present  interests  are  not 
very  widely  divergent.  Their  opposite  attitudes  as 
to  it  must,  therefore,  be  due  to  error  somewhere. 
.One  or  the  other  section  must  be  in  error  as  to  it; 
possibly  neither  may  be  exactly  right. 

This  much  we  know  and  can  assert :  there  must 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  285 

be  an  absolutely  right  position.  It  is  imperatively 
necessary  that  we  find  it ;  for  on  our  discovery  of 
it  and  our  planting  ourselves  firmly  on  it  depends 
our  security.  If  we  have  not  found  it  the  sooner 
we  realize  that  fact  the  better  for  us  and  for  those 
that  shall  come  after  us ;  if  we  have  found  it  the 
sooner  we  make  it  understood  the  better. 

One  thing  is  certain,  there  is  no  security  in 
silence ;  no  safety  in  inaction.  If  fifty  million 
negroes,  or  even  a  much  smaller  number,  are  to 
come  with  San  Domingo  and  the  French  Revolu- 
tion in  their  train,  the  white  race  has  need  to 
awake  and  bestir  itself. 

The  recent  census  has  happily  showed  that  Sena- 
tor Hoar  and  others  like  him  have  overestimated 
the  ratio  of  increase.1  But  the  problem  is  grave 
enough  as  it  is. 

The  first  step  to  be  taken  is  to  turn  the  light  on 
the  subject.  Let  it  be  examined,  measured,  com- 
prehended, and  then  dealt  with  as  shall  be  found  to 
be  just  and  right.  The  old  method  of  crimination 
and  defiance  will  no  longer  avail ;  we  must  deal 
with  the  question  calmly,  rationally,  philosophi- 
cally. We  must  abandon  all  untenable  positions 
whatsoever,  place  ourselves  on  the  impregnable 

1  The  percentage  of  increase  of  the  negro  race  is  shown  to  be 
considerably  less  than  that  of  the  white;  the  percentage  of 
deaths  among  the  former  race  being  largely  in  excess  of  that  of 
the  latter.  See  "Vital  Statistics  of  the  Negro,"  by  Frederick 
L.  Hoffman,  The  Arena,  April  No.,  p.  529. 


286  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

ground  of  right,  and  then  whatever  may  befall 
meantime,  we  can  calmly  await  the  inevitable  jus- 
tification of  events. 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  disembarrass  ourselves 
by  discarding  all  irrelevant  and  extraneous  ques- 
tions :  let  us  make  it  primarily  understood  that  the 
pending  question  has  no  connection  whatever  with 
the  question  of  slavery,  or  with  that  of  disloyalty  to 
the  Union.  Putting  aside  all  mere  prejudice  what- 
ever, whether  springing  from  the  negro's  former 
condition  of  servitude  or  from  other  causes,  let  us 
base  our  argument  on  facts  and  the  final  issue  can- 
not be  doubtful. 

Whatever  prejudice  may  exist,  a  constant,  firm, 
and  philosophic  presentation  of  the  facts  of  the 
case  must  in  the  end  establish  the  truth,  and  secure 
the  right  remedy.  The  spirit  of  civilization  must 
overcome  at  last,  and  whatever  obstacles  it  shall 
encounter,  right  must  eventually  triumph. 

The  North  deems  the  pending  question  merely 
one  of  the  enforcement  or  subversion  of  an  elective 
franchise  law ;  it  has  never  accepted  the  proposition 
that  it  is  a  great  race  question  on  which  hinges  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  the  security  of  the  people, 
white  and  black  alike,  and  the  progress  of  American 
civilization.  Perhaps  no  clearer  or  more  authorita- 
tive exposition  of  the  views  held  by  the  North  on 
this  question  can  be  found  than  that  set  forth  in 
a  recent  address  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Cable  delivered  be- 
fore the  Massachusetts  Club  of  Boston  on  the  22d 


THE   NEGRO   QUESTION  287 

of  February,  1890.  The  favor  with  which  it  was 
received  by  the  class  to  whom  it  was  delivered 
testifies  not  the  hostility  of  that  class,  but  the  ex- 
tent to  which  the  question  is  misunderstood  in  that 
section. 

Mr.  Cable,  after  negativing  the  Southern  idea  of 
the  question,  declares :  "  The  problem  is  whether 
American  citizens  shall  not  enjoy  equal  rights  in 
the  choice  of  their  rulers.  It  is  not  a  question  of 
the  negro's  right  to  rule.  It  is  simply  a  question  of 
their  right  to  choose  rulers;  and  as  in  reconstruction 
days  they  selected  more  white  men  for  office  than  men 
of  their  own  race,  they  would  probably  do  so  now" 
This  is  quoted  with  approval  by  even  so  liberal 
and  well  informed  a  thinker  as  the  Rev.  Henry  M. 
Field,  who  certainly  bears  only  good-will  to  the 
South,  as  to  the  rest  of  mankind.  The  endorse- 
ment of  these  views  by  such  a  man  proves  that 
the  North  absolutely  misapprehends  the  true  ques- 
tion which  confronts  the  nation  at  this  time.  It 
has  from  constant  iteration  accepted  as  facts  cer- 
tain statements  such  as  those  quoted,  and  these 
constitute  its  premises,  on  which  it  bases  all  its 
reasoning  and  all  its  action. 

The  trouble  is  that  its  first  premise  is  fallacious. 
Its  teachers,  its  preachers,  its  writers,  its  orators, 
its  philosophers,  its  politicians,  have  with  one  voice, 
and  that  a  mighty  voice,  been  for  a  hundred  years 
instilling  into  its  mind  the  uncontradicted  doctrine 
that  the  South  brought  the  negro  here  and  bound 


288  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

him  in  slavery ;  that  the  South  kept  the  negro  in 
slavery ;  that  to  perpetuate  this  enormity  the  South 
plunged  the  nation  in  war,  and  attempted  to  de- 
stroy the  Union ;  that  the  South  still  desires  the 
re-establishment  of  slavery,  and  that  meantime  it 
oppresses  the  negro,  defies  the  North,  and  stands 
a  constant  menace  to  the  Union. 

The  great  body  of  the  Northern  people,  bred  on 
this  food,  never  having  heard  any  other  relation, 
believes  this  implicitly,  and  all  the  more  dangerously 
because  honestly.  If  they  are  wrong  and  we  right 
it  behooves  us  to  enlighten  them. 

There  are,  without  doubt,  some  whom  nothing 
can  enlighten ;  who  would  not  believe  though  one 
rose  from  the  dead.  They  are  not  confined  to  one 
latitude.  There  are,  with  equal  certainty,  others 
who  for  place  and  profit  trade  in  their  brother's 
blood,  and  keep  open  the  wounds  which  peace,  but 
for  them,  would  long  ago  have  healed;  who  for  a 
mess  of  pottage  would  sell  the  birthright  of  the 
nation ;  the  professional  Haman  can  never  sleep 
whilst  Mordecai  so  much  as  sits  at  the  gate;  but 
we  can  have  an  abiding  faith  in  the  ultimate  good 
sense  and  sound  principles  of  the  great  Anglo-Saxon 
race  wherever  it  may  dwell ;  and  to  this  we  must 
address  ourselves. 

The  second  thing  necessary  to  the  solution  of  the 
question  is  to  enlighten  the  people  of  the  North. 
If  we  can  show  that  the  question  is  not,  as  Mr. 
Cable  states  and  as  the  North  believes,  merely 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  289 

whether  the  negro  shall  or  shall  not  have  the  right 
to  choose  his  ruler,  but  is  a  great  race  question  on 
which  depends  the  future  as  the  present  salvation 
of  the  nation,  we  need  have  no  fear  as  to  the  ulti- 
mate result ;  sound  sense  and  right  judgment  will 
prevail. 

That  there  exists  a  race  question  of  some  sort 
must  be  apparent  to  every  person  who  passes 
through  the  South.  Where  six  millions  of  people 
of  one  color  and  one  race  live  in  contact  with 
twelve  millions  of  another  color  and  race,  there 
must  of  necessity  be  a  race  issue.  The  negro  has 
not  behaved  unnaturally :  he  has  indeed  in  the 
main  behaved  well ;  but  the  race  issue  exists  and 
grows.  The  feeling  has  not  yet  reached  the  point 
of  personal  hostility;  at  least,  on  the  part  of  the 
whites ;  but  as  the  older  generation  which  knew 
the  ties  between  master  and  servant  passes  away, 
the  race  feeling  is  growing  intenser.  The  negro 
becomes  more  assertive ;  the  white  more  firm. 

There  are  a  multitude  of  men  and  women  at  the 
North  who  do  not  know  that  slavery  ever  really 
existed  at  the  North.  They  may  accept  it  histori- 
cally in  a  dim,  sort  of  theoretical  way,  as  we  accept 
the  fact  that  men  and  women  were  once  hanged  for 
forgery  or  for  stealing  a  shilling ;  but  they  do  not 
take  it  in  as  a  vital  fact. 

Will  it  not  aid  the  solution  of  our  problem  if  we 
can  show  that  New  England  had  as  much,  if  not 
more,  to  do  with  the  establishment  of  African 


290  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

slavery  on  tins  continent  than  had  the  South, 
though  it  survived  longest  in  the  latter  section ; 
that  slavery  at  the  North  was,  whilst  it  continued, 
as  rigorous  a  system  as  ever  it  was  at  the  South ; 
that  abolition  was  at  the  North  in  the  main  deemed 
as  illegal,  and  its  advocates  encountered  as  much 
obloquy  there  as  at  the  South ;  that  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves  was  effected  not  by  the  Northern 
people  at  large,  but  by  a  limited  band  of  enthusi- 
asts and  in  the  wise  providence  of  God ;  that  the 
emancipation  proclamation  was  not  based  on  the 
lofty  moral  principle  of  universal  freedom,  to  which 
it  has  been  the  custom  to  accredit  it,  but  was  a  war- 
measure,  resorted  to  only  on  "necessity  of  war," 
and  as  a  means  of  restoring  the  Union ;  that  the 
investment  of  the  negro  with  the  elective  franchise 
was  not  the  result  of  a  high  moral  sentiment 
founded  on  the  rights  of  man,  but  was  effected  in 
a  spirit  of  heat  if  not  of  revenge,  and  under  a 
misapprehension  of  the  true  bearing  of  such  an 
act ;  that  the  negro  has  not  used  the  power  vested 
in  him  for  the  advantage  of  himself  or  of  any  one 
else,  but  in  a  reckless,  unreasonable,  and  dangerous 
way  ;  that  whilst  there  have  been  cases  of  injustice 
to  him,  in  the  main  the  restraints  thrown  around 
him  at  the  South  have  been  merely  such  as  were 
rendered  necessary  to  preserve  the  South  from  ab- 
solute and  irretrievable  ruin;  that  the  same  in- 
stincts under  which  the  South  has  acted,  prevail 
at  the  North ;  that  the  negro  has  been  and  is  being 


THE  NEGKO   QUESTION  291 

educated  by  the  South  to  an  extent  far_bejrojuL-Li6 
rip-hfr  fo  p.lnyn.  or  the  abilities  of  the  white  to  con- 
tribute to  it ;  that  he  is  as  vet  incapable,  as  a  race, 
of  self-governinent-L  that  unless  the  white  race 
continues  to  assert  itself  and  retains  control,  a 
large  section  of  the  nation  will  become  hopelessly 
Africanized,  and  American  civilization  relapse  and 
possibly  perish  ? 

If  we  can  establish  the  statements  which  precede 
the  last  and  no  relief  shall  be  given,  then  that  one 
also  will  follow  as  a  necessary  consequence. 

Slavery  was  until  within,  historically  speaking, 
a  very  recent  period,  as  much  a  Northern  institu- 
tion as  it  was  a  Southern  one  ;  it  existed  in  full 
vigor  in  all  of  the  original  thirteen  colonies,  and 
whilst  it  existed  it  was  quite  as  rigorous  a  system 
at  the  North  as  at  the  South.  Every  law  which 
formed  its  code  at  the  South  had  its  counterpart  in 
the  North,  and  with  less  reason;  for  while  there 
were  at  the  South  not  less  than  600,000  slaves,  — 
Virginia  having,  by  the  census  of  1790,  293,427,  — 
there  were  at  the  North,  by  the  census  of  1790,  less 
than  42,000. 

Regulations  not  wholly  compatible  with  absolute 
freedom  of  will  are  necessary  concomitants  of  any 
system  of  slavery,  especially  where  the  slaves  are 
in  large  numbers  ;  and  it  may  move  the  hearts  of 
our  brethren  at  the  North  to  greater  patience  with 
us  if  we  show  them  that  they  too  are  not  "  without 
sin."  Massachusetts  has  the  honor  of  being  the 


292  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

first  community  in  America  to  legalize  the  slave- 
trade  and  slavery  by  legislative  act;  the  first  to 
send  out  a  slave-ship,  and  the  first  to  secure  a 
fugitive  slave  law. 

Slavery  having  been  planted  here,  not  by  the 
South,  as  has  been  reiterated  until  it  is  the  gener- 
ally received  doctrine,  but  by  a  Dutch  ship,  which 
in  1619  landed  a  cargo  of  "  twenty  negers  "  in  a 
famished  condition  at  Jamestown ;  it  shortly  took 
general  root,  and  after  a  time  began  to  flourish. 
Indeed,  it  flourished  here  and  elsewhere,  so  that  in 
1636,  only  sixteen  years  later,  a  ship,  TJie  Desire, 
was  built  and  fitted  out  at  Marblehead  as  a  slaver, 
and  thus  became  the  first  American  slave-ship,  but 
by  no  means  the  last.  In  the  early  period  of  the 
institution  it  was  conceived  that  as  it  was  justified 
on  the  ground  that  the  slaves  were  heathen,  con- 
version to  Christianity  might  operate  to  emancipate 
them.  In  Virginia,  the  leading  Southern  colony,  it 
was  adjudicated  that  this  did  not  so  operate ;  but 
long  prior  to  that,  and  whilst  it  was  the  accepted 
theory,  negroes  are  shown,  by  the  church  records, 
to  have  been  baptized.  In  Massachusetts,  at  that 
time,  baptism  was  expressly  prohibited. 

The  fugitive  slave  law,  which  proved  ultimately 
and  naturally  so  powerful  an  excitant  in  the  history 
of  slavery,  and  which  is  generally  believed  to  have 
been  the  product  of  only  Southern  cupidity  and 
brutality,  had  its  prototype  in  the  Articles  of  the 
Confederation  of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  Eng- 


THE   NEGRO  QUESTION  293 

land  (19th  May,  1643),  in  which  Massachusetts  was 
the  ruling  colony.  "The  commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  found  occasion  to  complain  to  the 
Dutch  governor  in  New  Netherlands  in  1646  of  the 
fact  that  the  Dutch  agent  in  Hartford  had  harbored 
a  fugitive  Indian  slave-woman,  of  whom  they  say  in 
their  letter :  '  Such  a  servant  is  parte  of  her  mas- 
ter's estate,  and  a  more  considerable  parte  than  a 
beaste.'  A  provision  for  the  rendition  of  fugitives, 
etc.,  was  afterwards  made  by  treaty  between  the 
Dutch  and  the  English "  (Moore's  "  History  of 
Slavery  in  Massachusetts,"  p.  28,  citing  Plymouth 
Colony,  Rec.  IX.  6,  64,  190). 

Many  of  the  good  people  of  Massachusetts,  in 
their  zeal  and  their  misapprehension  of  the  facts, 
have  been  accustomed  to  regard  their  own  skirts  as 
free  from  all  taint  whatsoever  of  the  accursed  doc- 
trine of  property  in  human  beings,  and  have  been 
wont  to  boast  that  slavery  never  existed  by  virtue 
of  law  in  that  grand  old  Commonwealth,  and  that 
certainly  no  human  creature  was  ever  born  a  slave 
on  her  sacred  soil.  For  refutation  one  need  go  no 
further  than  the  work  of  Mr.  George  H.  Moore, 
entitled  "  History  of  Slavery  in  Massachusetts." 
Mr.  Moore  was  librarian  of  the  Historical  Society 
of  New  York,  and  corresponding  member  of  the 
Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts.  He  says,  page 
19:  "It  has  been  persistently  asserted  and  repeated 
by  all  sorts  of  authorities,  historical  and  legal,  up  to 
that  of  the  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 


294  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

Commonwealth,  that  'slavery  to  a  certain  extent 
seems  to  have  crept  in;  not  probably  by  force  of 
any  law,  for  none  such  is  found  or  known  to  exist.' 
Citing  Commonwealth  vs.  Aves,  18  Pick.,  Shaw, 
C.  J."  He  says  further:  "In  Mr.  Sumner's  famous 
speech  in  the  Senate,  June  28,  1854,  he  boldly  as- 
serted that  '  in  all  her  annals  no  person  was  ever 
born  a  slave  on  the  soil  of  Massachusetts ' ;  and, 
says  he,  ' if  in  point  of  fact  the  issue  of  slaves  was 
sometimes  held  in  bondage,  it  was  never  by  sanction 
of  any  statute  law  of  colony  or  commonwealth.' 
And  'recent  writers  of  history  in  Massachusetts 
have  assumed  a  similar  lofty  and  positive  tone  on 
this  subject.'  Mr.  Palfrey  says :  'In  fact,  no  person 
was  ever  born  into  legal  slavery  in  Massachusetts  ' 
("History  New  England,"  II.  30,  note);  Moore,  p. 
21.  Mr.  Justice  Cray,  in  an  elaborate  historical 
note-  to  the  case  of  Oliver  vs.  Sale,  Quincy's  K.  29, 
says :  '  Previously  to  the  adoption  of  the  state  consti- 
tution in  1780,  negro  slavery  existed  to  some  extent 
and  negroes  held  in  slavery  might  be  sold  ;  but  all 
children  of  slaves  were  by  law  free.' " 

Is  it  any  ground  for  wonder  that  with  these 
authoritative  statements  ever  iterated  and  reiter- 
ated before  them,  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
should  really  have  believed  that  no  child  had  ever 
been  born  into  slavery  on  the  sacred  soil  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  that  slavery  itself  only  existed  to 
"  some  extent "  ? 

Mr.  Moore,  with  authorities  in  hand,  shows  that 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  295 

these  declarations  are  unfounded,  and  states  the 
uncomfortable  but  real  facts.  He  quotes  the  ninety- 
first  article  of  "The  Body  of  Liberties,"  which 
appears  in  the  first  edition  under  the  head  of  "  Lib- 
reties  of  Forreiners  &  Strangers,"  and  in  the  sec- 
ond edition,  that  of  1660,  under  the  title  of  "  Bond- 
Slavery." 

"  91.  There  shall  never  be  any  bond-slaver ie,  vil- 
linage  or  captivity  amongst  us  unles  it  be  lawfull 
captives  taken  in  just  warres,  and  such  strangers 
as  willingly  sell  themselves  or  are  SOLD  TO  us. 
And  these  shall  have  all  the  liberties  and  Chris- 
tian usages  which  the  law  of  God  established  in 
Israel  concerning  such  persons  doeth  morally  re- 
quire. This  exempts  none  from  servitude  who 
shall  be  judged  thereto  by  authoritie"  (M.  H.  S. 
Coll.  Ill,  VIII.  231). 

After  showing  the  evolution  of  this  law,  Mr. 
Moore,  on  page  18,  says  : 

"Based  on  the  Mosaic  Code,  it  is  an  absolute 
recognition  of  slavery  as  a  legitimate  status,  and 
of  the  right  of  one  man  to  sell  himself,  as  well  as 
that  of  another  man  to  buy  him.  It  sanctions  the 
slave-trade  and.  the  perpetual  bondage  of  Indians 
and  negroes,  their  children  and  their  children's 
children,  and  entitles  Massachusetts  to  precedence 
over  any  and  all  other  colonies  in  similar  legisla- 
tion. It  anticipates  by  many  years  anything  of  the 
sort  to  be  found  in  the  statutes  of  Virginia  or 
Maryland,  or  South  Carolina,  and  nothing  like  it 


296  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

is  to  be  found  in  the  contemporary  codes  of  her 
sister  colonies  in  New  England"  (Compare  Hil- 
dreth,  I.  278). 

Chief  Justice  Parsons,  in  the  leading  Massachu- 
setts case  of  Winchendon  vs.  Hatfield  in  error, 
referring  to  the  dictum  of  C.  J.  Dana  in  a  previous 
case,  that  a  negro  born  in  that  colony  prior  to  the 
Constitution  of  1780  was  free,  though  born  of  slave 
parents,  admits  candidly,  "It  is  very  certain  that 
the  general  practice  and  common  usage  had  been 
opposed  to  this  opinion." 

These  and  other  authorities  cited  by  Mr.  Moore 
would  seem  to  place  the  matter  absolutely  beyond 
all  question. 

Now  as  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  : 

What  are  the  historical  facts  as  to  this  ?  It  is 
true  that  slavery  had  been  abolished  at  the  North ; 
but  this  was  under  conditions  which,  had  they  pre- 
vailed at  the  South,  would  have  been  taken  advan- 
tage of  there  also;  and  when  the  institution  was 
abolished  in  the  Northern  States,  it  had  become  so 
unprofitable  that  no  great  credit  can  attach  to  the 
act  of  abolition.1  It  is  also  true  that  there  were 
throughout  the  North  a  considerable  body  of  men 
and  women  who,  from  a  very  long  time  back,  be- 
lieved sincerely  that  human  slavery  was  a  crime 

1 "  The  breeding  of  slaves  was  not  regarded  with  favor.  Dr. 
Belknap  says  that  negro  children  were  considered  an  incum- 
brance  in  a  family;  and  when  weaned  were  given  away  like  pup- 
pies "  (Moore,  p.  57,  citing  M.  H.  S.  Coll.  1,  IV.  200). 


THE   NEGRO  QUESTION  297 

against  nature,  and  strove  zealously  and  persist- 
ently to  overthrow  it.  At  the  South  there  were 
also  many  who  labored  with  not  less  earnestness 
to  effect  the  same  end;  though,  owing  to  differ- 
ent conditions,  the  same  means  could  not  be  em- 
ployed; and,  standing  face  to  face  with  the  im- 
mense slave  population  which  existed  at  the  South, 
they  saw  the  same  danger  which  faces  us  to-day, 
and  sought  in  colonization  the  means  at  once  to 
abolish  slavery,  to  free  America,  and  to  christianize 
Africa. 

As  to  actual,  immediate  emancipation,  however, 
it  was  no  more  the  intentional  work  of  the  North 
as  a  people  than  it  was  of  the  South. 

The  credit  for  it,  even  so  far  as  creating  a  public 
opinion  which  rendered  it  eventually  possible,  is 
due  to  a  band  of  emancipators,  who,  for  a  long  time 
absolutely  insignificant  in  numbers,  and  ever  com- 
paratively few  when  contrasted  with  the  great  body 
of  the  people  of  the  North,  devoted  their  energies, 
their  labors,  their  lives,  to  the  accomplishment  of 
this  end.  During  their  labors  they  encountered  no 
less  obloquy,  and  experienced  scarcely  less  peril  at 
the  North  than  at  the  South,  with  this  difference, 
that  at  the  North  the  outrages  perpetrated  upon 
them  were  inspired  by  a  mere  sentiment,  whilst  at 
the  South  the  vast  number  of  slaves  made  any  inter- 
ference with  them  intolerable,  and  the  treatment 
abolitionists  received  was  based  on  a  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  doctrines  they  promulgated  might 


298  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

at  any  moment  plunge  the  South  into  the  horrors 
of  insurrection. 

It  was  not  at  the  South,  but  at  the  North,  in 
Massachusetts,  that  Prudence  Cranclall  was,  for 
teaching  colored  girls,  subjected  to  a  persecution  as 
barbarous  as  it  was  persistent.  After  being  sued 
and  pursued  by  every  process  of  law  which  a  New 
England  community  could  devise,  she  was  finally 
driven  forth  into  exile  in  Kansas. 

She  opened  her  school  in  Canterbury,  Massachu- 
setts, iu  April,  1833,  and  was  at  once  subjected  to  the 
bitterest  persecution  conceivable.  It  was  all  well 
enough  to  hold  theories  about  the  equal  rights  of 
all  mankind ;  well  enough  to  abuse  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  Virginia,  in  South  Carolina,  in  Georgia,  or 
in  Louisiana;  but  to  actually  start  "a  nigger  school " 
in  Canterbiiry,  Massachusetts,  was  monstrous.  The 
town-meeting  promptly  voted  to  "  petition  for  a 
law  against  the  bringing  of  colored  people  from 
other  towns  and  States  for  any  purpose,  and  more 
especially  for  the  purpose  of  dissemination  of  the 
principles  and  doctrines  opposed  to  the  benevolent 
colonization  scheme."  "In  May  an  act  prohibiting 
private  schools  for  non-resident  colored  persons,  and 
providing  for  the  expulsion  of  the  latter,  was  pro- 
cured from  the  legislature,  amid  the  greatest  rejoic- 
ings in  Canterbury,  even  to  the  ringing  of  church- 
bells."  The  most  vindictive  and  inhuman  measures 
were  adopted  against  the  offender ;  the  shops  and 
meeting-houses  were  closed  against  her  and  her 


THE  NEGEO  QUESTION  299 

pupils ;  "  carriage  in  public  conveyances  was  denied 
them  ;  physicians  would  not  wait  upon  them ;  Miss 
Crandall's  own  family  and  friends  were  forbidden 
under  penalty  of  heavy  fines  to  visit  her ;  the  well 
was  filled  with  manure,  and  water  from  other  sources 
refused ;  the  house  itself  was  smeared  with  filth, 
assailed  with  rotten  eggs,  and  finally  set  on  fire  " 
("Life  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,"  I.  p.  321). 

It  was  not  at  the  South,  but  at  Canaan,  New 
Hampshire,  that  on  August  10,  1835,  "  the  building 
of  the  Noyes  Academy,  open  to  pupils  of  both  colors, 
iu  pursuance  of  a  formal  town-meeting  vote  that 
it  be  'removed,'  was  dragged  by  one  hundred  yoke 
of  oxen  from  the  land  belonging  to  the  corporation, 
and  left  on  the  common,  three  hundred  yeomen  of 
the  county  participating.  The  teacher  and  colored 
pupils  were  given  a  month  in  which  to  quit  the 
town"  (16.  p.  494). 

Throughout  New  England,  less  than  thirty  years 
before  the  promulgation  of  the  emancipation  proc- 
lamation abolitionists  encountered  not  only  oppro- 
brium but  violence.  When  George  Thompson,  the 
English  abolitionist,  went  throughout  the  North  in 
1835,  "his  windows  were  broken  in  Augusta,  Maine, 
where  a  State  anti-slavery  convention  was  in  prog- 
ress, and  a  committee  of  citizens  requested  him  to 
leave  town  immediately  under  pain  of  being  mobbed 
if  he  re-entered  the  convention.  At  Concord,  New 
Hampshire,  he  was  interrupted  with  missiles  while 
addressing  a  ladies'  meeting.  At  Lowell,  Massachu- 


300  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

setts,  on  his  second  visit,  in  the  town  hall  a  brickbat 
thrown  from  without  through  the  window  narrowly 
escaped  his  head,  and  in  spite  of  the  manliness  of 
the  selectmen  a  meeting  the  next  evening  was  aban- 
doned in  the  certainty  of  fresh  and  deadly  assaults  " 
("  Life  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,"  I.  p.  452). 

Here  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  William 
Lloyd  Garrison  :  "  Our  brother  Thompson  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  the  mob  at  Concord,  and  Whit- 
tier  was  pelted  with  mud  and  stones  "  ("  Life,"  p. 
517). 

"  At  a  convention  in  Lynn,  George  Thompson  was 
stoned.  The  next  evening  he  was  mobbed  by  three 
hundred  men.  All  this  in  New  England.  Finally, 
the  English  missionary  was  driven  out  of  the  coun- 
try, being  in  danger,  as  Garrison  wrote,  of  assassina- 
tion even  in  the  streets  of  Boston"  (Letter  from 
Garrison  to  his  wife,  November  9,  1835).  Indeed, 
mobs  were  as  frequent  at  that  period  in  New  Eng- 
land as  they  could  have  been  in  Virginia  or  South 
Carolina  had  the  abolitionists  attempted  to  preach 
their  doctrines  here.  William  Lloyd  Garrison 
himself  was  assailed  and  denounced,  and  even  in 
the  city  of  Boston  was  subjected  to  the  bitterest 
and  most  persistent  persecution.  He  was  notified 
to  close  up  the  office  of  his  paper,  The  Liberator, 
under  penalty  of  tar  and  feathers.  A  placard  was 
circulated,  stating  that  a  purse  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars had  been  raised  to  reward  the  first  man  who 
should  lay  hands  on  the  "infamous  foreign  scoun- 


THE   NEGRO  QUESTION  301 

drel  Thompson,"  so  that  he  might  be  brought  to 
the  tar-kettle  before  dark. 

Finally,  Garrison  himself  was  mobbed  in  Boston, 
torn  out  of  the  house  in  which  was  the  office  of  the 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  where  he  was  attending  a  meet- 
ing of  women,  and  was  dragged  through  the  streets 
of  Boston  with  a  rope  around  him,  and  but  for  the 
cleverness  of  two  sensible  men  who  got  him  into  the 
City  Hall  he  would  have  been  killed.  Even  there 
he  was  in  such  peril  that  he  was  put  into  the  jail 
to  keep  him  from  the  mob,  which  came  near  getting 
possession  of  him  a  second  time.  This  mob  was 
not,  as  may  be  supposed,  a  mob  of  the  creatures 
who  usually  constitute  such  an  assembly,  but  is 
said  to  have  been  composed  of  respectable  and 
well-dressed  persons.  Garrison,  attacking  the  mayor 
afterwards,  in  the  press,  for  not  taking  his  part 
more  firmly,  declared  that  if  it  had  been  a  mob  of 
workingmen  assaulting  a  meeting  of  merchants, 
no  doubt  he  would  have  acted  with  energy,  "but 
broadcloth  and  money  alter  the  case,"  he  says 
(Lib.  5,  197).  Indeed,  the  mayor  acknowledged 
that  "the  city  government  did  not  very  much  dis- 
approve of  the  mob  to  put  down  such  agitators  as 
Garrison  and  those  like  him"  ("Life  of  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,"  II.  p.  35). 

It  is  notable  that  the  entire  press  of  Boston, 
with  hardly  more  than  one  or  two  exceptions, 
approved  the  action  of  the  mob  and  censured  Gar- 
rison. 


302  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

Hear  what  Garrison  himself  had  to  say  of  it : 

"  1.  The  outrage  was  perpetrated  in  Boston,  the 
cradle  of  liberty,  the  city  of  Hancock  and  Adams, 
the  headquarters  of  refinement,  literature,  intelli- 
gence, and  religion.  No  comments  can  add  to  the 
infamy  of  this  fact. 

"2.  It  was  perpetrated  in  the  open  daylight  of 
heaven,  and  was  therefore  most  unblushing  and 
daring  in  its  features." 

"4.  It  was  dastardly  beyond  precedent,  as  it 
was  an  assault  of  thousands  upon  a  small  body  of 
helpless  females.  Charleston  and  New  Orleans 
have  never  acted  so  brutally. 

"5.  It  was  planned  and  executed,  not  by  the 
rabble  or  the  workingmen,  but  by  '  gentlemen  of 
property  and  standing,  from  all  parts  of  the  city,' 
—  and  now  (October  25th)  that  time  has  been 
afforded  for  reflection,  it  is  still  either  openly 
justified  or  coldly  disapproved  by  the  'higher 
classes,'  and  exultation  among  them  is  general 
throughout  the  city.  ..." 

"7.  It  is  evidently  winked  at  by  the  city  authori- 
ties. No  efforts  have  been  made  to  arrest  the  lead- 
ing rioters.  .  .  ." 

All  of  this  was  within  three  years  of  the  time 
when  a  bill  to  abolish  slavery  in  Virginia  had 
failed  in  her  General  Assembly  by  only  one  vote. 

There  is  surely  no  necessity  to  pile  up  more 
authority  on  this  point.  If  there  were  it  could  be 
done ;  for  not  only  in  New  England,  but  elsewhere 


THE  NEGKO  QUESTION  303 

in  the  North,  instances  can  be  cited  in  which  vio- 
lence, and  once  even  murder,  occurred.  Elijah  P. 
Lovejoy,  after  having  his  printing  office  sacked 
three  times,  fell  a  martyr  to  the  ferocity  of  a  mob 
iu  Illinois  for  having,  under  an  instinct  of  humanity, 
aided  a  fugitive  slave  to  escape.  On  one  thing,  how- 
ever, the  North  may  with  justice  pride  itself :  that 
in  the  end,  there  was  awakened  in  it  a  general  senti- 
ment for  emancipation.  For  this  it  was  indebted  to 
a  work  of  genius  produced  by  a  woman  ;  a  romance 
which  touched  the  heart  of  Christendom.  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin  "  overruled  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  and  abrogated  the  Constitution.  By 
arousing  the  general  sentiment  of  the  world  against 
slavery,  it  contributed  more  than  any  other  one 
thing  to  its  abolition  in  that  generation. 

But  not  even  then  did  the  North  set  out  to 
abolish  slavery.  President  Lincoln  is  universally 
accredited  as  the  emancipator  of  the  African.  It 
is  his  hand  which  is  represented  in  bronze  and 
marble  as  striking  the  shackles  from  the  slave. 
He  was  the  chosen  and  great  standard-bearer  of  the 
most  advanced  element  of  the  North,  the  great  rep- 
resentative of  their  ideas,  the  idolized  chief  magis- 
trate, and  the  trusted  commander  of  their  armies. 

His  words  on  this  subject  must  be  authoritative. 

On  the  22d  of  December,  1860,  after  South  Caro- 
lina had  seceded,  he  says :  "  Do  the  Southern  people 
really  entertain  fears  that  a  Republican  administra- 
tion would  directly  or  indirectly  interfere  with  the 


304  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

slaves  or  with  them  about  their  slaves  ?  .  .  .  The 
South  would  be  in  no  more  danger  in  this  respect 
than  it  was  in  the  days  of  Washington." 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  in  his  official  utter- 
ance, his  inaugural  address,  he  says :  "  I  have  no 
purpose  directly  or  indirectly  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  now 
exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so, 
and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so." 

If  there  can  possibly  be  a  more  authoritative 
declaration  than  this,  we  have  it  in  a  resolution 
passed  by  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  signed 
by  Lincoln  as  President  in  July,  1861,  after  the 
battle  of  Manassas : 

"  Resolved  .  .  .  that  this  war  is  not  waged  upon 
our  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppression,  nor  for  any 
purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  nor  purpose  of 
overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  estab- 
lished institutions  of  those  States,  but  to  defend 
and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution  and 
to  preserve  the  Union  with  all  the  dignity,  equality, 
and  rights  of  the  several  States  unimpaired,"  etc. 

Slave-holding  even  in  Federal  territory  was  not 
forbidden  until  June  19,  1862,  which  was  just  a 
month  before  the  bill  was  passed  providing  that 
all  "  slaves  of  persistent  rebels  found  in  any  place 
occupied  or  commanded  by  the  forces  of  the  Union 
should  not  be  returned  to  their  masters  [as  they 
had  hitherto  been  under  the  law],  and  providing 
that  they  might  be  enlisted  to  fight  for  the  Union." 


THE  NEGKO   QUESTION  305 

A  Constitutional  Amendment  (the  thirteenth), 
abolishing  and  prohibiting  evermore  the  enslave- 
ment of  human  beings,  failed  to  pass  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  the  session  of  1864,  and  would 
have  failed  altogether  had  not  a  member  from 
Ohio  changed  his  vote  in  order  to  move  a  recon- 
sideration and  keep  it  alive  till  the  following  ses- 
sion, when  Mr.  Lincoln  having  been  re-elected, 
and  having  recommended  its  passage,  and  the  war 
being  evidently  near  its  end,  it  was  passed  by  a 
vote  of  119  yeas  to  57  noes. 

Indeed,  before  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  his  emancipa- 
tion proclamation  he  gave  one  hundred  days'  warn- 
ing to  the  revolutionary  States  to  lay  down  their 
arms,  and  in  the  proclamation  he  places  the  entire 
matter  forever  at  rest  by  declaring  in  terms  in 
that  unmistakable  English  of  which  he  was  a  mas- 
ter that  the  measure  was  adopted  "  upon  military 
necessity." 

No  one  can  read  this  record  and  not  admit  that 
slavery  was  abolished  in  the  providence  of  God, 
against  the  intention  of  the  North  and  of  the 
South  alike,  because  its  purpose  had  been  accom- 
plished, and  the  time  was  ripe  for  its  ending. 

The  next  step  is  the  discussion  of  the  attitude 
in  which  we,  the  white  people  of  the  South,  stand 
to  the  negro.  This  attitude  is  too  striking,  if  not 
too  anomalous,  not  to  have  attracted  wide  atten- 
tion. A  race  with  an  historic  and  glorious  past,  in 
a  high  stage  of  civilization,  stands  confronted  by 


306  THE   OLD  SOUTH 

a  race  of  their  former  slaves,  invested  with  every 
civil  and  political  right  which  they  themselves  pos- 
sess, and  supported  by  an  outside  public  senti- 
ment, which  if  not  inimical  to  the  dominant  race, 
is  at  least  unsympathetic.  The  two  races  cannot 
be  termed  with  exactness  hostile,  —  in  many  re- 
spects, not  even  unfriendly ;  but  they  are  suspi- 
cious of  each  other;  their  interests  are  in  some 
essential  particulars  conflicting,  and  in  others  may 
easily  be  made  so ;  the  former  slave  race  is  politi- 
cally useful  to  the  outsiders  by  whose  sentiment 
they  are  sustained,  and  the  former  dominant  race 
is  unalterably  assertive  of  the  imperative  necessity 
that  it  shall  govern  the  inferior  race  and  not  be 
governed  by  it. 

Now  what  is  the  question  ?  Is  it  merely  the 
question,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Cable,  "whether  the 
negro  shall  not  have  the  right  to  choose  his  own 
rulers " ;  or  is  it  a  great  race  issue  between  the 
negro  and  the  white  ? 

If  it  is  a  question  of  mere  perverse  imposition 
by  the  white  on  the  black,  by  the  stronger  on  the 
weaker,  a  refusal  to  recognize  his  just  rights,  then 
the  advocates  of  that  side  are  right.  If,  however,  it 
be  the  other,  then  the  stronger  race  should  be  sus- 
tained, or  else  the  people  of  the  North  are  guilty 
of  the  fatuity  which  destroys  nations. 

The  chief  complication  of  the  matter  arises  from 
the  possession  of  the  elective  franchise  by  the  newly 
emancipated  negro,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  307 

which  surround  this  possession.  The  very  method 
of  the  bestowal  of  this  franchise  was  pregnant  with 
baleful  results.  It  was  given  him  not  as  a  righteous 
and  reasonable  act ;  not  because  he  was  considered 
capable  of  exercising  the  highest  function  of  citizen- 
ship, the  making  of  laws,  and  the  execution  of 
laws ;  not  with  the  philosophic  deliberation  which 
should  characterize  an  act  by  which  four  millions 
of  new  citizens  of  a  distinct  and  inferior  race  are 
suddenly  added  to  the  nation;  but  in  heat,  in  a 
spirit  of  revenge,  and  chiefly  because  the  cabal 
which  then  controlled  the  republic  thought  that 
with  the  negro  as  an  ally  it  could  govern  the  South 
and  perpetuate  its  own  power.  The  South,  just 
from  the  furious  struggle  of  war,  physically  pros- 
trate, but  with  its  dauntless  spirit  unbroken,  con- 
fiding in  its  own  integrity  of  purpose,  and  vainly 
believing  that  as  the  Constitution  was  the  aegis 
under  which  the  North  had  claimed  to  fight,  the 
constitutional  rights  for  which  it  had  itself  con- 
tended would  be  observed  and  respected,  accepted 
the  emancipation  of  the  negro,  but  not  unnaturally 
found  itself  unwilling,  indeed  unable,  to  accept  all 
that  this  emancipation  might  import.  The  North 
partly  in  distrust  of  the  sincerity  of  even  the  meas- 
ure of  acceptance  which  the  South  admitted ;  partly 
in  the  belief  in  the  minds  of  a  considerable  portion 
of  its  people  that  the  negro  might  thus  be  elevated, 
and  that  he  would,  at  least,  be  enabled  to  protect 
himself;  but  mainly  to  govern  the  intrepid  and 


308  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

difficult  South,  at  the  instance  of  the  partisan 
leaders  who  then  directed  the  destinies  of  the 
republic,  struck  down  constitutional  government 
throughout  the  South,  and  restored  it  only  when 
it  had  placed  it  in  the  negro's  hands. 

No  such  act  of  fatuity  ever  emanated  from  a 
nation.  Justification  it  can  have  none;  its  best 
excuse  must  be  that  it  was  accomplished  under  a 
certain  enthusiasm  just  after  a  bitter  war,  and 
before  passion  had  cooled  sufficiently  for  reason  to 
reassert  her  sway.  It  was  a  people's  insanity. 
The  "Reconstruction  of  the  South"  was,  on  the 
part  of  the  people  of  the  North  at  large,  simply 
that  which  in  national  life  is  worse  than  a  crime,  a 
blunder ;  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  who  planned  it 
and  carried  it  through,  it  was  a  cool,  deliberate, 
calculated  act,  violative  of  the  terms  on  which  the 
South  had  -surrendered  and  disbanded  her  broken 
armies,  and  perpetrated  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
not  peace,  not  safety,  not  righteous  acknowledg- 
ment of  lawfully  constituted  authority,  but  per- 
sonal power,  to  the  leaders  of  the  party  which  at 
that  time  was  dominant,  power  with  all  that  it 
implied  of  gain  and  revenge.  For  this  they  took 
eight  millions  of  the  Caucasian  race,  a  people 
which  in  their  devotion  and  their  self-sacrifice,  in 
their  transcendent  vigor  of  intellect,  their  intrepid 
valor  in  the  field,  and  their  fortitude  in  defeat, 
had  just  elevated  their  ratfe  in  the  eyes  of  mankind, 
and  placed  them  under  the  domination  of  their 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  309 

former  slaves.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  modern 
history. 

Within  two  months  after  Lee's  surrender  at  Ap- 
pomattox  there  was  not  a  Confederate  within  the 
limits  of  the  Southern  States  who  had  not  accepted 
honestly  the  status  of  affairs.  On  the  18th  of 
December,  1865,  General  Grant,  who  had  been  sent 
through  the  South  to  inspect  and  make  a  report  on 
its  condition,  in  his  report  to  the  President  said : 

"  I  am  satisfied  the  mass  of  thinking  men  in  the 
South  accept  the  present  situation  of  affairs  in 
good  faith.  The  questions  which  have  hitherto 
divided  the  sentiment  of  the  people  of  the  two  sec- 
tions —  slavery  and  State-rights,  or  the  right  of  the 
State  to  secede  from  the  Union,  —  they  regard  as 
having  been  settled  forever  by  the  highest  tribunal, 
that  of  arms,  that  man  can  resort  to." 

Shortly  after  the  assembling  of  Congress  in 
December,  1865,  the  President  was  able  to  report 
that  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Arkansas, 
and  Tennessee  had  reorganized  their  State  govern- 
ments. The  conventions  of  the  seceding  States 
had  all  repealed  or  declared  null  and  void  the  ordi- 
nances of  secession.  The  laws  were  in  full  opera- 
tion, and  the  States  were  in  reality  back  in  the 
Union,  with  duly  elected  representatives,  generally 
men  who  had  been  Union  men,  waiting  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  Congress  when  ft" should  assemble. 

Had  Lincoln  but  been  here,  how  different  might 


310  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

have  been  the  story  !  His  wisdom,  his  sound  sense, 
his  catholic  spirit,  his  pride  in  the  restored  Union 
which  he  had  preserved,  his  patriotism,  would  have 
governed.  For  two  years  the  influence  of  his  views 
remained  too  potent  to  be  overcome.  Johnson, 
who  had  not  much  love  for  the  South,  had  caught 
enough  of  his  liberal  and  patriotic  spirit  to  attempt 
the  continuance  of  his  pacific,  constitutional,  and 
sagacious  policy.  But  he  lacked  his  wisdom,  and 
by  the  end  of  two  years  the  domiuent  will  of  Thad. 
Stevens  and  his  lieutenants  had  sufficiently  depraved 
public  opinion  to  bend  it  to  their  pleasure  and 
subvert  it  to  their  purpose.  Thad.  Stevens  gave  the 
keynote.  On  the  14th  of  December,  1865,  he  said : 
"  According  to  my  judgment  they  (the  insurrection- 
ary States)  ought  never  to  be  recognized  as  capable 
of  acting  in  the  Union,  or  of  being  counted  as  valid 
States,  until  the  Constitution  shall  have  been  so 
amended  as  to  make  it  what  its  makers  intended, 
and  so  as  to  secure  perpetual  ascendency  to  the  party 
of  the  Union." 

Charles  Surnner  was  not  behind  him.  He  de- 
clared in  January,  1867,  that  unless  universal 
suffrage  were  conferred  on  all  negroes  in  the  dis- 
organized States,  "you  will  not  secure  the  new 
allies  who  are  essential  to  the  national  cause." 

In  pursuance  of  the  scheme  of  Stevens,  in  March, 
1867,  acts  were  passed  by  Congress,  virtually  wip- 
ing out  the  States  of  Virginia,  !N"orth  and  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  311 

Arkansas,  Florida,  and  Texas,  and  dividing  the  ter- 
ritory into  military  districts,  under  military  rulers, 
who  were  to  have  absolute  power  over  life,  property, 
and  liberty,  subject  only  to  the  proviso  that  death 
sentences  should  be  approved  by  the  President. 

When  they  were  again  created  States,  and  brought 
back  into  the  Union,  the  whites  had  been  disfran- 
chised, and  the  negro  had  been  created  a  voter, 
drafted  into  the  Union  League,  drilled  under  his 
carpet-bag  officers,  and  accepted  as  the  new  ally 
through  whom  was  to  be  secured  "the  perpetual 
ascendency  of  the  party  of  the  Union." 

Lincoln  in  his  wisdom  and  patriotism  had  never 
dreamt  of  such  a  thing.  His  only  "suggestion" 
had  been  to  let  in  "  some  of  the  colored  people,  .  .  . 
as,  for  instance,  the  very  intelligent."  (Lincoln's 
letter  to  Governor  Hahn,  March  13,  1864.) 

The  history  of  that  period,  of  the  reconstruction 
period  of  the  South,  has  never  been  fully  told.  It 
is  only  beginning  to  be  written.  A  valuable  contri- 
bution to  it,  entitled  "Noted  Men  on  the  Solid 
South,"  has  recently  appeared,  and  to  the  papers 
comprised  in  it  I  am  indebted  for  much  material  in 
this  branch  of  my  subject.  When  that  history 
shall  be  told  it  will  constitute  the  darkest  stain  on 
the  record  of  the  American  people.  The  sole  ex- 
cuse which  can  be  pleaded  at  the  bar  of  posterity,  is 
that  the  system  was  inaugurated  in  a  time  of  excite- 
ment which  was  not  short  of  frenzy. 

Ever  since  the  negro  was  given  the  ballot  he  has, 


312  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

true  to  his  teaching,  steadily  remained  the  ally  of 
the  party  which  gave  it  to  him,  following  its  lead 
with  more  than  the  obedience  of  the  slave,  and  on 
all  issues,  in  all  times,  opposing  the  respectable 
white  element  with  whom  he  dwelt  with  a  steadfast 
habitude  which  is  only  explicable  on  the  ground  of 
steadfast  purpose.  The  phenomenon  has  been  too 
marked  to  escape  observation.  The  North  has 
drawn  from  it  the  not  unnatural  inference  that  the 
negro  is  oppressed  by  the  white,  and  thus  asserts 
at  once  his  independence  and  attempts  to  obtain 
his  rights.  The  South,  knowing  that  he  is  not 
oppressed,  draws  therefrom  the  juster  inference 
that  he  naturally,  wilfully,  and  inevitably  aligns 
himself  against  the  white  simply  upon  a  race  line 
and  stands,  irrespective  of  reason,  in  persistent  op- 
position to  all  measures  which  have  their  advocacy. 

The  North  sees  in  the  negro's  attitude  only  the 
proper  and  laudable  aspiration  of  a  citizen  and  a 
man ;  the  South  detects  therein  a  determination  to 
dominate,  a  menace  to  all  that  the  Anglo-American 
race  has  effected  on  this  continent,  and  to  the 
hopes  in  which  that  race  established  this  nation. 

To  ascertain  which  is  the  correct  view  it  is  well 
at  this  point  to  examine  the  negro  himself  and  his 
capacity  as  a  citizen. 

In  discussing  this  matter  we  are  fortunately  not 
relegated  to  the  shadowy  and  uncertain  domain  of 
mere  theory ;  we  can  base  our  argument  on  the 
firm  and  assured  foundation  of  actual  experience. 


THE  NEGRO  QUESTION  313 

In  the  first  place,  whatever  a  sentimental  philan- 
thropy may  say ;  whatever  a  modern  and  misguided 
humanitarianism  may  declare,  there  underlies  the 
whole  matter  the  indubitable,  potent,  and  myste- 
rious principle  of  race  quality.  Scientifically,  his- 
torically, congenitally,  the  white  race  and  the  negro 
race  differ. 

Slavery  will  not  alone  account  for  it  all.  In  the 
recorded  experience  of  mankind  slavery  —  mere 
slavery  —  has  not  repressed  intelligence  ;  the  bonds 
of  the  person  however  tightly  drawn  have  not 
served  to  shackle  the  mind.  Slavery  existed  among 
the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Phoenicians,  among 
our  own  ancestors  of  the  Teuton  race ;  slavery  as 
absolute,  as  inexorable  as  ever  was  African  slavery. 
Indeed,  under  some  of  those  systems  there  was 
absolute  chattel  slavery,  which  never  existed  with 
us,  for  the  Greek  and  the  Koman  possessed  over 
their  slaves  the  absolute  power  of  life  and  death ; 
they  might  slay  them  as  an  exhibition  for  their 
guests,  or  might  cast  them  into  their  fish-ponds  as 
food  for  their  lampreys. 

Yet  under*  these  systems,  differentiated  from 
African  slavery  by  the  two  conditions  of  race  simi- 
larity and  intellectual  potentiality,  slaves  attained 
not  unfrequently  to  high  position,  and  from  them 
issued  some  of  the  most  notable  productions  of 
those  times;  ^Esop,  Terence,  Epictetus  the  Stoic 
were  slaves.  These  and  many  more  have  proved 
that  where  the  intellectual  potentiality  exists  it 


314  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

will  burst  through  the  encumbering  restraints  of 
servitude,  and  establish  the  truth  that  bondage 
cannot  enthrall  the  mind. 

What  of  value  to  the  human  race  has  the  negro 
mind  as  yet  produced?  In  art,  in  mechanical 
development,  in  literature,  in  mental  and  moral 
science,  in  all  the  range  of  mental  action,  no  notable 
work  has  up  to  this  time  come  from  a  negro. 

In  the  earliest  records  of  the  human  race,  the 
monuments  of  Egypt  and  Syria,  he  is  depicted  as  a 
slave  bearing  burdens ;  after  tens  of  centuries  he 
is  still  a  menial.  Four  thousand  years  have  not 
served  to  whiten  the  pigments  of  the  frame,  nor 
developed  the  forces  of  the  intellect.  The  leopard 
cannot  change  his  spots  to-day,  nor  the  Ethiopian 
his  skin,  any  more  than  they  could  in  the  days  of 
Jeremiah  the  son  of  Hilkiah. 

It  is  not  argued  that  because  a  negro  is  a  negro 
he  is  incapable  of  any  intellectual  development.  On 
the  contrary,  my  observation  has  led  me  to  think 
that  under  certain  conditions  of  intellectual  envi- 
ronment, of  careful  training,  and  of  sympathetic 
encouragement  from  the  stronger  races  he  may 
individually  attain  a  fair,  and  in  uncommon  in- 
stances a  considerable  degree,  of  mental  develop- 
ment. To  deny  this  is  to  deny  the  highest  attri- 
bute of  the  intellectual  essence,  and  is  to  shut  the 
door  of  hope  upon  a  race  of  God's  human  creatures 
to  whom  I  give  my  sympathy  and  my  good-will. 
But  the  incontestable  proof  is  that  such  cases  of 


THE  NEGRO  QUESTION  315 

intellectual  development  are  exceptional  instances, 
and  that  after  long,  elaborate,  and  ample  trial  the 
uegro  race  has  failed  to  discover  the  qualities 
which  have  inhered  in  every  race  of  which  his- 
tory gives  the  record,  which  has  advanced  civili- 
zation, or  has  shown  capacity  to  be  itself  greatly 
advanced. 

Where  the  negro  has  thriven  it  has  invariably 
been  under  the  influence  and  by  the  assistance  of 
the  stronger  race.  Where  these  have  been  wanting, 
whatever  other  -conditions  have  existed,  he  has 
invariably  and  sensibly  reverted  towards  the  orig- 
inal type.  Liberia,  Hayti,  Congo,  are  all  in  one 
line. 

His  history  on  his  native  continent  is  pregnant. 
Far  as  the  East  is  from  the  West,  negro-Africa  is 
from  the  land  of  civilization.  Generations  have 
come  and  gone ;  centuries  have  followed  centuries ; 
peoples  have  succeeded  peoples ;  nations  have  been 
grafted  on  nations,  more  and  more  crowned  with 
the  sunlight  of  progress  and  of  civilization;  but 
no  faintest  beam  has  ever  pierced  the  impenetrable 
gloom  of  the  "Dark  Continent,"  and  the  African 
explorer's  latest  book  is  "Darkest  Africa." 

This  has  not  been  because  opportunity  has  been 
wanting.  Civilization  first  lit  her  golden  torch 
upon  her  borders.  The  swelling  waters  of  the  Nile 
spread  through  a  lettered  and  partly  enlightened 
people  when  the  Tiber  crept  through  swamps  and 
wilderness ;  when  the  Acropolis  was  a  wild,  and 


316  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

the  seven  hills  of  the  Eternal  City  a  range  for 
wolves,  Thebes  and  Memphis  and  Heliopolis  con- 
tained a  civilization  which  in  some  of  its  mani- 
festations has  never  been  equalled  since.  Rome 
stretched  across  the  Mediterranean,  and  sent  her 
civilizing  power  along  the  northern  shore  of  the 
continent ;  and  later,  the  Moors  possessed  a  civili- 
zation there  which  is  yet  a  marvel  even  to  our  race. 
In  that  record  which  all  Christendom  holds  as  its 
most  precious  possession  we  catch  glimpses  of  a 
commerce  and  even  of  a  civilization  situate  some- 
where within  the  boundaries  of  Africa,  and  meeting 
that  of  the  greatest  monarch  of  the  time.  The 
curtain  suddenly  lifts  and  we  get  a  view  all  the 
more  dazzling,  because  so  mysterious,  of  a  queen  of 
Ethiopia  coming  with  wonderful  gifts  to  visit  Solo- 
mon himself. 

Since  then  civilization  has  swept  triumphant 
over  a  large  part  of  the  earth.  Only  the  land  of 
the  negro  has  never  yielded  to  her  illumining  and 
vivifying  influence.  The  Roman  has  succeeded 
the  Greek ;  the  Gaul  and  the  Frank  have  risen  on 
the  Roman ;  the  Teuton,  the  Saxon,  and  the  Celt 
have  surpassed  the  Gaul.  Only  in  negro-Africa  has 
barbarism  held  unbroken  rule,  and  savagery  main- 
tained perpetual  dominion. 

Stanley,  Ward,  Glave  and  Emin  Pasha  found  but 
a  year  or  two  since  the  great  Congo  country  as  bar- 
barous, as  savage,  as  cannibal,  as  it  was  five  thou- 
sand years  ago,  province  preying  on  province,  and 


THE   NEGRO    QUESTION  317 

village  feeding  on  village,  as  debased  and  brutish 
as  the  beasts  of  the  jungle  about  them. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  Africa  that  the  negro  has 
exhibited  the  absence  of  the  essential  qualities  of 
a  progressive  race.  It  is  everywhere.  Since  the 
dawn  of  history,  the  negro  has  been  in  one  place 
or  another,  in  Egypt,  in  Rome,  in  other  European 
countries,  brought  in  contact  with  civilization,  yet 
he  has  failed  to  receive  the  vitalizing  current  under 
which  other  races  have  risen  in  greater  or  less 
degree. 

Here  in  America  for  over  two  hundred  years  he 
has  been  under  the  immediate  influence  of  the  most 
potent  race  the  world  has  known,  and  within  the 
sweep  of  the  ripest  period  of  the  world's  history. 

It  may  be  charged  that  as  a  slave  he  has  never 
had  an  opportunity  to  give  his  faculties  that  exer- 
cise which  is  necessary  to  their  development.  But 
the  answer  is  complete.  He  has  not  been  a  slave 
in  all  places,  at  all  times.  In  Africa  he  was  not 
a  slave,  save  to  himself  and  his  own  instincts ;  in 
Rome  he  was  no  more  a  slave  than  was  the  Teu- 
ton, the  Greek,  or  the  Gaul ;  in  New  England  he 
has  not  been  a  slave  for  over  a  hundred  years,  and 
may  be  assumed  to  have  had  there  as  much  encour- 
agement, and  to  have  received  as  sustaining  an 
influence  as  will  ever  be  accorded  him  by  the  white. 
What  has  been  the  result  even  in  New  England  ? 

Dr.  Henry  M.  Field  has  recently  written  a  book  of 
travels  in  the  South  and  of  his  reflections  thereon. 


318  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

Dr.  Field  comes  of  a  distinguished  Northern  family, 
of  which  the  whole  country  is  proud.  He  is  a 
close  observer,  a  fair  recorder,  and  the  friend  of 
the  whole  human  race.  He  will  not  be  accused 
of  prejudice.  Speaking  of  the  present  intellectual 
condition  of  the  negro  in  Massachusetts,  he  says  : 

"  Yet  here  we  are  doomed  to  great  disappoint- 
ment. The  black  man  has  had  every  right  that 
belongs  to  his  white  neighbor ;  not  only  the  natu- 
ral rights  which,  according  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  belong  to  every  human  being,  —  the 
right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness, 
—  but  the  right  to  vote,  and  to  have  a  part  in  mak- 
ing the  laws.  He  could  own  his  little  home,  and 
there  sit  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree  with  none 
to  molest  or  make  him  afraid.  His  children  could 
go  to  the  same  common  schools,  and  sit  on  the 
same  benches,  and  learn  the  same  lessons  as  white 
children. 

"  With  such  advantages,  a  race  that  had  natural 
genius  ought  to  have  made  great  progress  in  a  hun- 
dred years.  But  where  are  the  men  that  it  should 
have  produced  to  be  the  leaders  of  their  people  ? 
We  find  not  one  who  has  taken  rank  as  a  man  of 
action  or  a  man  of  thought;  as  a  thinker  or  a 
writer  ;  as  artist  or  poet ;  as  discoverer  or  inventor. 
The  whole  race  has  remained  on  one  dead  level  of 
mediocrity. 

"  If  any  man  ever  proved  himself  a  friend  of  the 
African  race  it  was  Theodore  Parker,  who  endured 


THE  NEGRO  QUESTION  319 

all  sorts  of  persecution  and  social  ostracism,  who 
faced  mobs  and  was  hissed  and  hooted  in  public 
meetings,  for  his  bold  championship  of  the  rights 
of  the  negro  race.  But  rights  are  one  thing,  and 
capacity  is  another.  And  while  he  was  ready  to 
fight  for  them  he  was  very  despondent  as  to  their 
capacity  for  rising  in  the  scale  of  civilization. 
Indeed,  he  said  in  so  many  words,  'In  respect  to 
the  power  of  civilization,  the  African  is  at  the 
bottom,  the  American  Indian  next.'  In  1857  he 
wrote  to  a  friend :  '  There  are  inferior  races  which 
have  always  borne  the  same  ignoble  relation  to  the 
rest  of  men  and  always  will.  In  two  generations 
what  a  change  there  will  be  in  the  condition  and 
character  of  the  Irish  in  New  England.  But  in 
twenty  generations  the  negro  will  stand  just  where 
they  are  now;  that  is,  if  they  have  not  disap- 
peared.' "  Dr.  Field  goes  on : 

"That  was  more  than  thirty  years  ago.  But 
to-day  I  look  about  me  here  in  Massachusetts,  and 
I  see  a  few  colored  men ;  but  what  are  they  doing  ? 
They  work  in  the  fields,  they  hoe  corn,  they  dig 
potatoes ;  the  women  take  in  washing.  I  find  colored 
barbers  and  white-washers,  shoe-blacks  and  chim- 
ney-sweeps ;  but  I  do  not  know  a  single  man  who 
has  grown  to  be  a  merchant  or  a  banker,  a  judge 
or  a  lawyer,  a  member  of  the  legislature  or  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  or  even  a  selectman  of  the  town. 
In  all  these  respects  they  remain  where  they  were 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers.  The  best  friends  of  the 


320  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

colored  race,  of  whom  I  am  one,  must  confess  that 
it  is  disappointing  and  discouraging  to  find  that 
with  all  these  opportunities  they  are  little  removed 
from  where  they  were  a  hundred  years  ago." l 

But  suppose  that  the  statements  of  others,  whose 
observation  has  enabled  them  to  pick  out  a  well-to- 
do  lawyer  or  dentist  or  doctor  or  restaurateur,  be 
different,  it  only  proves  that  in  individual  instances 
they  may  rise  to  a  fair  level ;  it  simply  emphasizes 
the  fact  that  these  are  exceptions  to  the  great  rule, 
and  does  not  in  the  least  affect  the  argument  which 
is  that  the  negroes  as  a  race  have  never  exhibited 
any  capacity  to  advance;  that  as  a  race  they  are 
inferior. 

Opportunity  is  afforded  us  to  examine  the  negro's 
progress  in  two  countries  in  which  a  civilization 
was  created  for  him,  and  he  was  surrounded  by 
every  condition  helpful  to  progress. 

The  first  is  Liberia :  here  he  had  a  model  republic 
founded  by  the  Caucasian  solely  for  his  benefit, 
with  freedom  grafted  in  its  name.  It  was  founded 
in  as  splendid  hopes  as  even  this  republic  itself. 
Christendom  gave  it  its  assistance  and  its  prayers. 
How  has  the  negro  progressed  there  ?  Let  one  of 
his  own  race  tell  the  story,  one  who  was  thought 
competent  to  represent  there  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Charles  H.  J.  Taylor,  late  Minister  from  the 
United  States  to  Liberia,  has  given  a  picture  of  life 
in  Liberia,  which  cannot  be  equalled  save  in  some 
1  "  Sunny  Skies  and  Dark  Shadows,"  p.  144. 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  321 

other  country  under  the  same  rule.  He  says,  in  a 
paper  published  in  the  Kansas  City  Times,  April 
22,  1888 : 

"  Not  a  factory,  mill,  or  workshop,  of  any  kind, 
is  to  be  found  there.  They  (the  government)  have 
no  money  or  currency  in  circulation  of  any  kind. 
They  have  no  boats  of  any  character,  not  even  a 
canoe,  the  two  gun-boats  England  gave  them  lying 
rotten  on  the  beach."  ...  "  Look  from  morn  till 
night  you  will  never  see  a  horse,  a  mule,  a  donkey, 
or  a  broken-in  ox.  They  have  them  not.  There 
is  not  a  buggy,  a  wagon,  a  cart,  a  slide,  a  wheel- 
barrow, in  the  four  counties.  The  natives  carry 
everything  on  their  heads."  The  whole  picture 
presented  is  hopeless. 

If  this  were  an  isolated  picture  we  might  think 
that  climatic  influences  or  the  proximity  of  a  great 
savage  continent  had  affected  the  result.  But  we 
have  nearer  home  a  yet  more  striking  illustration, 
a  yet  more  convincing  proof  that  the  real  cause  was 
the  negro's  inability  to  govern,  his  incapacity  to 
rise. 

For  a  hundred  years  now  the  negro  has  cast  his 
influence  over  sundry  of  the  West  Indies,  and  has 
had  sole  possession  of  one.  With  this  republic 
constructed  by  our  fathers  before  him  for  a  model, 
he  has  since  1804  been  masquerading  at  governing 
Hayti,  one  of  the  most  fertile  spots  that  Spain  ever 
ruled. 

A  more  fantastic  mummery  never  disgraced  a 


322  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

people  or  degraded  a  land.  From  the  time  of  Tous- 
saint  L'Ouverture  to  the  present  there  has  not  been 
a  break  in  the  darkness  which  settled  upon  San 
Domingo. 

The  bloody  Dessalines  aping  Napoleon,  and  with 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  republic  yet  warm  on 
his  lips,  crowning  himself  "Emperor"  of  half  an 
island,  the  brutal  Gonaives,  Boyer,  Soulouque,  and 
their  like,  following  each  other,  each  as  brutal  and 
swinish  as  the  other,  or  with  degrees  limited  only 
by  their  capacity,  present  a  picture  such  as  history 
cannot  duplicate.  . 

We  have  accounts  of  Hayti  by  two  Englishmen, 
one  the  historian  Froude,  the  other,  &ir  Spencer 
St.  John,  for  years  British  resident  at  Hayti,  both 
of  whom  assert  that  they  have  no  race  antipathy, 
and  what  a  picture  do  they  present !  San  Domingo, 
once  the  Queen  of  the  Antilles,  has  in  less  than  a 
hundred  years  of  negro  rule  sunk  well-nigh  into  a 
state  of  primeval  barbarism. 

Sir  Spencer  St.  John,  in  his  astounding  work  "The 
Black  Republic,"  has  given  a  picture  of  Hayti  under 
negro  rule  which  is  enough  to  give  pause  alike  to 
the  wildest  theorist  and  the  most  vindictive  par- 
tisan. He  takes  pains  to  tell  us  that  he  has  lived 
for  thirty -five  years  among  colored  people  of  various 
races,  and  has  no  prejudice  against  them ;  that  the 
most  frequent  and  not  the  least  honored  guests  at 
his  table  in  Hayti  for  twelve  years  were  of  the  black 
and  colored  races.  The  picture  he  has  presented 


THE   NEGRO   QUESTION  323 

is  the  blackest  ever  drawn:  revolution  succeeding 
revolution,  and  massacre  succeeding  massacre  ;  the 
country  once,  under  white  rule,  teeming  with  wealth 
and  covered  with  beautiful  villas  and  plantations, 
with  "  a  considerable  foreign  commerce,  now  in  a 
state  of  decay  and  ruin,  without  trade  or  resources 
of  any  kind,  peculation  and  jobbery  paramount  in 
all  public  offices  "  ;  barbarism  substituted  for  civili- 
zation, Voudou  worship  in  place  of  Christianity, 
and  oftener  than  once  human  flesh  actually  sold  in 
the  market-place  of  Port  au  Prince,  the  capital  of 
the  country. 

Sir  Spencer  St.  John  says  that  a  Spanish  colleague 
once  said  to  him :  "  If  we  could  return  to  Hay ti  fifty 
years  hence,  we  should  find  the  negresses  cooking 
their  bananas  on  the  site  of  these  warehouses." 
On  which  he  remarks :  "It  is  more  than  proba- 
ble —  unless  in  the  meantime  influenced  by  some 
higher  civilization  —  that  this  prophecy  will  come 
true.  The  negresses  are,  in  fact,  cooking  their 
bananas  amid  the  ruins  of  the  best  houses  of  the 
capital." 

If  it  shall  seem  to  those  who  have  no  actual 
knowledge  upon  the  subject  that  I  have  overdrawn 
the  picture,  I  would  refer  them  to  the  papers  which 
I  have  cited,  and  the  works  which  I  have  quoted, 
and  to  the  great  body  of  the  Southern  people  who 
have  had  experience  of  what  negro  domination 
imports. 

What  has  been  stated  has  been  said  in  no  feeling 


324  THE  OLD  SOUTH 

of  personal  hostility,  or  even  unfriendliness  to  the 
negro,  for  I  have  no  unfriendliness  towards  any 
negro  on  earth ;  on  the  contrary,  I  have  a  feeling 
of  real  friendliness  towards  many  of  that  race,  and 
am  the  well-wisher  of  the  whole  people. 

What  is  said  in  this  paper  is  said  under  a  sense 
of  duty,  with  the  hope  and  in  the  belief  that  it  may 
serve  to  call  attention  to  the  real  facts  in  the  case ; 
that  it  may  help  to  discard  from  the  discussion  all 
mere  sentimentality  or  prejudice,  and  to  base  the 
future  consideration  of  the  matter  upon  the  only 
solid  ground  —  the  ground  of  naked  fact. 

These  examples  cited,  if  they  establish  anything, 
establish  the  fact  that  the  negro  race  does  not  pos- 
sess, in  any  development  which  he  has  yet  attained, 
the  elements  of  character,  the  essential  qualifica- 
tions to  conduct  a  government,  even  for  himself, 
and  that  if  the  reins  of  government  be  intrusted  to 
his  unaided  hands,  he  will  fling  reason  to  the  winds, 
and  drive  to  ruin.  Were  this,  however,  only  Hayti 
or  Liberia,  we  might  bear  it  with  such  philosophic 
patience  as  our  philanthropy  admits  of,  but  we  have 
nearer  home  a  proof  not  less  overwhelming  of  this 
truth.  The  negro  has  had  control  of  the  govern- 
ment in  the  Southern  States  ;  for  eight  years  a 
number  of  Southern  States  were  partly,  and  three 
of  them  were  wholly,  given  up  to  the  control  of  the 
negroes,  directed  by  men  of,  at  least,  ability  and 
experience,  and  sustained  by  the  invigorating  influ- 
ence of  the  entire  North. 


THE   NEGRO  QUESTION  325 

The  reconstruction  acts  gave  the  black  the  abso- 
lute right  of  suffrage,  and  disfranchised  the  whites. 
The  negro  was  invested  with  absolute  power,  and 
turned  loose.  He  selected  his  rulers.  The  entire 
weight  of  the  government  —  an  immense  force  — 
was  under  the  misapprehension,  born  of  the  excite- 
ment which  then  reigned,  thrown  blindly  in  their 
favor ;  whatever  they  asserted  was  believed ;  what- 
ever they  demanded  was  done ;  the  ballot  was  given 
them,  and  all  the  forms  established  by  generations 
of  Caucasian  patriots  and  jurists,  and  consecrated 
by  centuries  of  Caucasian  blood,  were  solemnly  set 
up  and  solemnly  followed.  The  negro  then  selected 
his  own  rulers.  The  negro  had  thus  his  oppor- 
tunity then,  if  ever.  The  North  had  put  him  up  as 
a  citizen  against  the  protest  of  the  South,  and  stood 
obliged  to  sustain  him.  What  was  the  result  ? 
Such  a  riot  of  folly  and  extravagance,  such  a  trav- 
esty of  justice,  such  a  mummery  of  government  as 
was  never  witnessed,  save  in  those  countries  in 
which  he  had  himself  furnished  the  illustration. 

In  Virginia,  where  the  negroes  were  in  a  numeri- 
cal minority  and  where  the  prowess  of  the  whites 
had  been  but  now  displayed  before  their  eyes  in  an 
impressive  manner  which  they  could  not  forget,  we 
escaped  the  inconveniences  of  carpet-baggisrn,  and 
the  Hunnycuts,  Underwoods,  and  such  vultures 
kept  the  carcass  for  their  own  picking,  and  were 
soon  gorged  and  put  to  flight.  But  it  was  not  so 
where  the  negroes  were  in  a  large  majority;  in 


326  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

South  Carolina,  in  Louisiana,  in  Mississippi,  and  in 
other  Southern  States  there  was  a  very  carnival  of 
riot  and  rapine. 

Space  will  not  permit  the  going  into  detail.  I 
can  only  refer  to  one  or  two  facts,  from  which  the 
whole  dreadful  story  may  be  gathered.  Louisiana 
will  be  first  cited. 

Warmouthism  and  Kellogism,  in  Louisiana,  and 
carpet-baggism  generally,  with  all  their  environ- 
ments of  chicanery  and  venality,  and  all  their  train 
of  poverty  and  profligacy,  cannot  be  done  justice 
to  in  a  paper  of  this  character.  I  would  refer  to 
the  valuable  paper  contributed  by  the  Hon.  B.  J. 
Sage,  to  the  series  which  has  recently  been  brought 
out  in  a  volume  under  the  head  of  "  Noted  Men  on 
the  Solid  South,"  to  which  volume  acknowledgment 
is  made  for  much  of  my  material  in  this  branch 
of  my  subject.  Such  a  relation  of  theft,  debauch- 
ery, and  crime  has  not  been  found  outside  of  those 
countries  in  which  carpet-baggism  has  ruled,  with 
the  negro  as  its  facile  and  ignorant  instrument. 

In  Louisiana,  soon  after  Warmouth  came  into 
office,  he  stated  in  his  message  of  4th  January,  1868, 
to  his  legislature  :  "  Our  debt  is  smaller  than  that 
of  almost  any  State  in  the  Union,  with  a  tax-roll  of 
$251,000,000,  and  a  bonded  debt  that  can  at  will  be 
reduced  to  $6,000,000.  There  is  no  reason  that  our 
credit  should  not  be  at  par."  This  was  too  good 
a  field  for  Warmouth  and  his  associates  to  lose. 
Says  Mr.  Sage :  "  The  census  of  1870  showed  the 


THE  NEGKO   QUESTION  327 

debt  of  the  State  to  have  increased  to  $25,021,734, 
and  that  of  the  parishes  and  muncipalities  to 
$28,065,707.  Within  a  year  the  State  debt  was 
increased  fourfold,  and  the  local  indebtedness  had 
doubled.  Louisiana,  according  to  the  census,  stood, 
in  the  matter  of  debt,  at  the  head  of  the  Union  " 
("Noted  Men  on  the  Solid  South,"  p.  404). 

This  was  but  the  beginning.  The  total  cost  of 
four  years  and  five  months  of  Eepublican  rule 
amounted  to  $106,020,337,  or  $24,040,089  per  year. 
"To  this,"  says  Mr.  Sage,  "must  be  added  the 
privileges  and  franchises  given  away  and  the  State 
property  stolen  "  (/&.  p.  406).  Taxation  went  up  in 
proportion  —  in  some  places  to  7  or  8  per  cent  (/&. 
p.  406) ;  in  others  as  high  as  16  per  cent  (Dr.  Henry 
M.  Field,  "  Bright  Skies  and  Dark  Shadows  ") .  This 
was  confiscation. 

The  public  printing  of  the  State  had,  in  previous 
years,  cost  about  $37,000  per  year.  During  the 
first  two  years  of  Warmouth's  regime  the  New 
Orleans  Republican,  in  which  he  was  a  principal 
stockholder,  received  $1,140,881.77  for  public  print- 
ing ("Noted  Men  on  the  Solid  South,"  p.  408). 

When  Warmouth  ran  for  governor,  he  was  so 
poor  that  a  mite  chest  was  placed  beside  the  ballot 
box  to  receive  contributions  to  pay  his  expenses  to 
Washington.  When  he  had  been  in  office  only  a 
year,  it  was  estimated  that  he  was  worth  $225,000, 
and  when  he  retired  he  was  said  to  have  had  one  of 
the  largest  fortunes  in  Louisiana. 


328  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

The  Louisiana  State  Lottery,  with  all  the  de- 
bauchery of  morals  and  sentiment  which  it  has 
occasioned,  was  chartered  by  Warmouth  and  his 
gang,  and  is  a  legacy  which  they  have  left  to  the 
people  of  that  State,  an  octopus  which  they  have 
vainly  striven  to  shake  off.  Time  fails  to  tell  of 
the  rapine,  the  vice,  the  profligacy  in  which  the 
government  —  State  and  municipal  —  was  the  prize 
which  was  tossed  about  like  a  shuttlecock,  from 
one  faction  to  the  other ;  of  the  midnight  orders 
to  seize  the  government,  the  carnival  of  corruption 
and  crime,  until  the  whites  were  forced  to  band 
themselves  into  a  league  to  prevent  absolute  an- 
archy. It  suffices  to  say  that  it  was  in  Louisiana 
under  negro  rule  that  troops  were  marched  into  the 
State  House,  and  drove  out  the  assembled  repre- 
sentatives of  the  State,  at  the  point  of  the  bayo- 
net, a  thing  which  has  happened  during  peace  only 
twice  before  in  the  history  of  modern  civilization, 
once  under  Cromwell  and  once  under  Napoleon. 

"  The  vampire  Warmouthism  had  reduced  the 
wealth  of  New  Orleans  from  $146,718,790  at  War- 
mouth's  advent,  to  $88,613,930  at  Kellog's  exit  — 
a  net  decline  of  $58,104,860  in  eight  years ;  while 
real  estate  in  the  country  parishes  had  shrunk  in 
value  from  $99,266,839.85  to  $47,141,696,  or  about 
one-half.  During  this  period  the  Republican  lead- 
ers had  squandered  nearly  $150,000,000,  giving 
the  State  little  or  nothing  to  show  therefor  "  (/&. 
p.  427.) 


THE   NEGKO  QUESTION  329 

In  Mississippi  the  corruption  was  almost  as 
great,  and  the  result  almost  as  disastrous.  The 
State  levy  for  1871  was  four  times  what  it  was  in 
1869 ;  for  1872  it  was  four  times  as  great ;  for 

1873  it  was  eight  and  a  half  times  as  great;   for 

1874  it  was  fourteen  times  as  great.     Six  million 
four  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land,  comprising 
20  per  cent  of  all  the  lands  in  the  State,  had  been 
forfeited  for  non-payment  of  taxes. 

In  South  Carolina,  if  it  were  possible,  the  situa- 
tion was  even  worse,  and  the  paper  contributed  to 
the  series  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  by  the 
Hon.  John  J.  Hemphill,  to  which  I  wish  to  acknowl- 
edge my  indebtedness,  outlines  briefly  the  condition 
of  affairs,  and  presents  a  picture  which  ought  to  be 
read  by  every  man  in  the  Union.  The  General  As- 
sembly, which  convened  in  1868,  in  Columbia,  con- 
sisted of  72  whites  and  85  negroes.  In  the  house 
were  14  Democrats,  and  in  the  senate  7;  the  re- 
maining 136  were  Republicans.  One  of  the  first 
acts  passed  was  somewhat  anomalous.  After  de- 
fending the  rights  of  the  colored  man  on  railroads, 
in  theatres,  etc.,  it  provided  that  if  a  person  whose 
rights  under  the  act  were  claimed  to  be  violated, 
was  a  negro,  then  the  burden  of  proof  should 
shift  and  be  on  the  defendant,  and  he  should 
be  presumed  to  be  guilty  until  he  established  his 
innocence. 

When  the  legislature  met,  they  proceeded  to  fur- 
nish the  halls  at  a  cost  of  $50,000,  for  which  they 


330  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

appropriated  $95,000.  This  hall  has  since  been 
entirely  furnished  at  a  cost  of  $3061.  They  paid 
out  in  four  years,  for  furniture,  over  $200,000,  and 
when,  in  1877,  the  matter  was  investigated,  it  was 
found  that,  even  placing  what  remained  at  the 
original  purchase  price,  there  was  left  by  them  in 
the  State  House  only  $17,715  worth;  the  rest  had 
disappeared. 

"  They  opened  another  account,  known  under  the 
vague  but  comprehensive  head  of  '  Supplies,  sun- 
dries, and  incidentals.'  This  amounted,  in  a  single 
session,  to  $350,000.  For  six  years  they  ran  an 
open  bar  in  one  of  the  legislative  committee  rooms, 
open  from  8  A.M.  to  3  P.M.,  at  which  all  the  offi- 
cials and  their  friends  helped  themselves,  without 
cost  —  save  to  the  unfortunate  and  helpless  tax- 
payers." 

They  organized  railroad  frauds,  election  frauds, 
census  frauds,  general  frauds — whatever  they  or- 
ganized was  rilled  with  fraud.  They  enlisted  and 
equipped  an  armed  force,  the  governor  —  one  Scott 
— refusing  to  accept  any  but  colored  companies. 
Ninty-six  thousand  colored  men  were  enrolled  at  a 
cost,  for  the  simple  enrolment,  of  over  $200,000. 
One  thousand  Winchester  rifles  were  obtained,  for 
which  the  State  was  charged  about  $38,000 ; 
1,000,000  cartridges  cost  the  State  $37,000;  10,000 
Springfield  muskets  were  bought,  and  charged  at  a 
cost,  they  claim,  of  $187,050;  it  was  all  charged 
to  the  State  at  $250,000.  The  troops,  as  organ- 


THE   NEGRO  QUESTION  331 

ized,  were  employed  by  Scott  and  the  notorious 
Moses  as  their  heelers  and  henchmen.  The  armed 
force,  or  constabulary,  were  armed  and  maintained 
for  the  same  purpose  (76.  Mr.  Hemphill's  paper, 
p.  94). 

Governor  Scott  spent  $374,000  of  the  funds  of 
the  State  in  his  canvass  (Ib.  p.  95).  Eight  porters 
were  employed  in  the  State  House ;  they  issued 
certificates  to  238;  eight  laborers  and  from  five 
to  twenty  pages  were  employed;  certificates  were 
issued  to  159  of  the  former  and  124  of  the  latter. 
One  lot  of  150  certificates  were  issued  at  once — all 
fraudulent.  During  one  session  pay  certificates 
were  issued  to  the  amount  of  $1,168,255,  all  of 
which  but  $200,000  was  untarnished  robbery  (Ib. 
p.  99). 

The  public  printing  was  another  field  for  their 
robbery.  The  total  cost  of  the  printing  in  South 
Carolina  for  the  eight  years  of  Republican  domina- 
tion, 1868-76,  was  $1,326.589.  The  total  cost 
for  printing  for  78  years  previous — from  1790 
to  1868 — was  $609,000,  showing  an  excess  for  the 
cost  of  printing  in  eight  years,  over  78  years  pre- 
vious, of  $717,589.  The  average  cost  of  the  public 
printing  under  the  Republican  administration,  per 
year,  was  $165,823 ;  average  cost  per  annum  under 
Hampton's  administration,  $6178.  The  amount 
appropriated  for  one  year,  1872-73,  by  the  Repub- 
licans, for  printing,  was  $450,000 ;  amount  appro- 
priated in  25  years  ending  in  1866,  $278,251. 


332  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

Excess  of  one  year's  appropriation  over  25  years, 
$171,749.  The  cost  of  printing  in  South  Caro- 
lina, exceeded  in  one  year  by  $122,932.13  the 
cost  of  like  work  in  Massachusetts,  !N"ew  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Maryland  together  (Ib. 
p.  100). 

In  1860  the  taxable  values  in  the  State  amounted 
to  $490,000,000,  and  the  tax  to  a  little  less  than 
$400,000.  In  1871  the  taxable  value  had  been  re- 
duced to  $184,000,000,  and  the  tax  increased  to 
$2,000,000.  In  19  counties  taken  together,  93,293 
acres  of  land  were  sold  in  one  year  for  unpaid  taxes. 
After  four  years  of  Republican  rule,  the  debt  of  the 
State  had  increased  from  $5,407,306  to  $18,515,033. 
There  had  been  no  public  works  of  any  importance, 
and  the  "entire  thirteen  millions  of  dollars  repre- 
sented nothing  but  unnecessary  and  profligate  ex- 
penditures and  stealings"  (Ib.  p.  102.) 

The  governor's  pardon  was  a  matter  of  mere 
bargain  and  sale.  During  Moses's  term  of  two 
years,  he  issued  457  pardons — pardoning  during 
the  last  month  of  his  tenure  of  office  46  of  the  168 
convicts  whom  he  had  hitherto  left  in  jail. 

In  May,  1875,  Governor  Chamberlayne  declared, 
in  an  interview  with  a  correspondent  of  the  Cincin- 
nati Commercial,  that  when  at  the  end  of  Moses's 
administration  he  entered  on  his  duties  as  governor, 
200  trial  justices  were  holding  offices  by  executive 
appointment  who  could  neither  read  nor  write  (Ib. 
p.  104). 


THE  NEGRO  QUESTION  333 

These  statements  are  but  fragments  taken  from 
the  papers  by  Mr.  Heinphill,  Governor  Hampton, 
and  others,  who  cite  the  public  records,  and  are 
simply  statistics.  No  account  has  been  taken  of 
the  imposition  practised  throughout  the  South 
during  the  period  of  negro  domination ;  of  the  vast, 
incredible,  and  wanton  degradation  of  the  South- 
ern people  by  the  malefactors,  who,  with  hoards  of 
ignorant  negroes  just  from  the  bonds  of  slavery  as 
their  instruments,  trod  down  the  once  stately  South 
at  their  will.  No  wonder  that  Governor  Chamber- 
layne,  Kepublican  and  carpet-bagger  as  he  was, 
should  have  declared,  as  he  did  in  writing  to  the 
New  England  Society :  "  The  civilization  of  the 
Puritan  and  Cavalier,  of  the  Roundhead  and 
Huguenot,  is  in  peril." 

A  survey  of  the  field  and  a  careful  consideration 
of  the  facts  have  convinced  me  that  I  am  within 
the  domain  of  truth,  when  I  say  that  the  Southern 
States,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  one  or  two  of 
the  border  States,  were  better  off  in  1868,  when 
reconstruction  went  into  force,  than  they  were  in 
1876,  when  the  carpet-bag  governments  were  finally 
overthrown;  and  that  the  eight  years  of  negro 
domination  in  the  South  cost  the  South  more  than 
the  entire  cost  of  the  war,  inclusive  of  the  loss  of 
values  in  slave  property.  I  think  if  Mr.  Cable,  and 
those  who  accept  his  theorem,  will  study  the  history 
of  the  Southern  States,  even  as  written  only  in  the 
statistics,  taking  no  account,  if  they  please,  of  the 


334  THE   OLD   SOUTH 

suffering  and  the  degradation  inflicted  upon  the 
white  race  of  the  South  during  the  period  in  which 
the  South  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  rulers  se- 
lected by  the  negroes,  they  will  find  that  there  is  not 
so  much  difference  between  the  proposition  which 
he  formulates  and  that  which  the  South  states, 
when  it  declares  that  the  pending  question  is  one 
of  race  domination,  on  which  depends  the  future 
salvation  of  the  American  people. 

Twenty-seven  years  have  rolled  by  since  the  negro 
was  given  his  freedom  ;  nearly  twenty-five  years 
have  passed  since  he  was  given  a  part  in  the  gov- 
ernment, and  was  taken  up  to  be  educated.  The 
laws  were  so  adapted  that  there  is  not  now  a 
negro  under  forty  years  old  who  has  not  had  the 
opportunity  to  receive  a  public  school  education. 
Through  private  philanthropy  these  public  schools 
(many  of  which  are  of  a  high  grade)  have  been  sup- 
plemented by  institutions  established  on  private 
foundations.  That  the  negroes  have  had  a  not 
ungeneral  ambition  to  attend  school  is  apparent 
from  the  school  attendance  of  the  race,  as  shown 
by  the  statistics.  The  negro  enrolment  in  the 
schools  for  the  session  1878-88  being  1,140,405, 
or  a  little  over  one-half  of  their  entire  school  pop- 
ulation. 

Besides  this,  every  profession,  every  trade,  every 
department  of  life  have  been  open  to  him  as  to  the 
white;  he  has  had  his  own  race  as  his  constitu- 
ency ;  he  has  possessed  the  backing  of  the  North, 


THE   NEGRO  QUESTION  335 

and  the  good-will  of  the  South.  But  what  has  he 
done  ?  What  has  he  attained  ? 

The  South  has  viewed  his  political  course  with 
suspicion,  and  has  opposed  him  with  all  her  re- 
sources ;  but  she  has  not  been  mean  or  niggardly 
towards  him.  On  the  contrary,  in  every  place,  at 
all  times,  even  whilst  she  was  resisting  and  assail- 
ing him  for  his  political  action,  she  has  displayed 
towards  him  in  the  expenditures  for  his  educa- 
tion a  liberality  which,  in  relation  to  her  ability, 
amounted  to  lavishness. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  A.  D.  Mayo,  eminent  alike  for  his 
learning  and  philanthropy,  and  a  Northern  edu- 
cator, declared  not  long  ago :  "  No  other  people  in 
human  history  has  made  an  effort  so  remarkable 
as  the  people  of  the  South  in  re-establishing  their 
schools  and  colleges.  Overwhelmed  by  war  and 
bad  government,  they  have  done  wonders,  and  with 
the  interest  and  zeal  now  felt  in  public  schools  in 
the  South,  the  hope  for  the  future  is  brighter  than 
ever."  "Last  year,"  he  says,  speaking  in  1888, 
"these  sixteen  States  paid  nearly  $1,000,000  each 
for  educational  purposes,  a  sum  greater  according 
to  their  means  than  ten  times  the  amount  now  paid 
by  most  of  the  New  England  States." 

Virginia  has  expended  on  her  public  schools,  in- 
cluding the  session  of  1890-91,  according  to  the 
figures  of  Colonel  Ruffin,  the  Second  Auditor  of 
Virginia,  taken  from  official  sources,  $ 23,380,309.97. 
Her  negro  schools  cost  her  for  the  year  1889-90,  by 


336  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

the  same  estimate,  $420,000,  of  which  the  negroes 
paid  about  $60,000. T 

1  Total  amount  of  State  and  Local  Taxes  expended 
in  Virginia  on  Public  Schools  from  1870-71  to 

1890-91  —  20  years $22,759,249.38 

Amount  received  from  Peabody  Fund 296,134.00 

Private  contributions 324,926.69 

Total 23,380,309.97 

Cost  of  Negro  education  in  Public  Schools,  in- 
cluding total  Current  Expenses $4,792,290.60 

Amounts  appropriated  by  the  State  to  Hampton 

and  Virginia  Normal  Institutes 471,708.72 

Cost  of  permanent  improvements,  sites,  buildings, 

etc.,  for  Colored  Schools 588,223.05 

Total  cost  of  Colored  Public  Schools  and  Normal 

Institutes  for  20  years 5,852,222.57 

Total  cost  of  White  Schools  for  same  period 17,528,087,60 

Total  of  all  Public  Schools  for  same  period 23,380,309.97 

Percentage  of  whole  fund  expended  on  white 
Schools 75.00 

Percentage  of  whole  fund  expended  on  Colored 

Schools 25.00  100.00 

Actual  statistics  for  1891  show  the  following  facts : 

Total  Taxes.    Per  cent  of  Whole. 

White $1,796,576.06  91.7 

Colored 163,175.67  8.3 

Total $1,959,751.73         100.0 

The  U.  S.  Census  for  1890  shows  the  population  of  Virginia  to 
be  as  follows  : 

Whites 1,015,123  =    61.3% 

Colored 640,857  =    38.7% 

Total 1,655,980  =  100.0% 

Thus  showing  that  while  the  negroes  comprise  nearly  four-tenths 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  337 

Governor  Gordon,  of  Georgia,  in  a  recent  address, 
said  of  that  State :  "  When  her  people  secured  pos- 
session of  the  State  government,  they  found  about 
six  thousand  colored  pupils  in  the  public  schools, 
with  the  school  exchequer  bankrupt.  To-day,  in- 
stead of  six  thousand,  we  have  over  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  colored  pupils  in  the  public 
schools,  with  the  exchequer  expanding  and  the 
schools  multiplying  year  by  year."  He  says  fur- 
ther, "The  negroes  pay  one-thirtieth  of  the  ex- 
pense, and  the  other  twenty-nine  thirtieths  are 
paid  by  the  whites." 

The  other  Southern  States  have  not  been  behind 
Virginia  and  Georgia  in  this  matter. 

Now  what  has  the  negro  accomplished  in  this 
quarter  of  a  century  ?  The  picture  drawn  by 


of  the  population,  they  furnish  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  amount 
expended  on  public  schools. 

The  number  of  Public  Schools  for  the  year  f  White,      5358  ) 
1889-90  was i  Colored,  2153  j 

The  total  cost  of  Public  Schools  for  the  year  1889- 

90  was $1,604,508.80 

The  cost  of  Negro  Schools  for  the  same  year  was 

about 420,000.00 

Now,  if  we  use  the  percentages  given  above,  and  allow  all 
the  taxes  paid  by  negroes  (on  both  personal  and  real  property) 
to  go  into  the  School  Fund,  we  will  see  that  there  was  a  deficit 
of  §256,824.33  to  be  made  up  from  the  taxes  paid  by  white  peo- 
ple, or,  in  other  words,  the  total  amount  of  taxes  on  personal 
and  real  property  paid  by  the  negroes  will  cover  less  than  half 
the  expense  of  their  schools  alone. 


338  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

Dr.  Field  of  his  accomplishment  in  "Massachusetts 
would  do  for  the  South. 

"They  work  in  the  fields,  they  hoe  corn,  they 
dig  potatoes  ;  the  women  take  in  washing."  They 
are  barbers  and  white-washers,  shoe-blacks  and 
chimney-sweeps.  Here  and  there  we  find  a  lawyer 
or  two,  unhappily  with  their  practice  in  inverse 
ratio  to  their  principle.  Or  now  and  then  there  is 
a  doctor.  But  almost  invariably  these  are  men 
with  a  considerable  infusion  of  white  blood  in  their 
veins.  And  even  they  have,  in  no  single  instance, 
attained  a  position  which  in  a  white  would  be 
deemed  above  mediocrity.  Fifteen  years  ago  there 
were  in  Richmond  a  number  of  negro  tobacco  and 
other  manufacturers  in  a  small  way.  Now  there 
are  hardly  any  except  undertakers. 

They  do  not  appear  to  possess  the  faculties  which 
are  essential  to  conduct  any  business  in  which  rea- 
son has  to  be  applied  beyond  the  immediate  act  in 
hand. 

They  lack  the  faculty  of  organization  on  which 
rests  all  successful  business  enterprise. 

They  have  been  losing  ground  as  mechanics. 
Before  the  war,  on  every  plantation  there  were 
first-class  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  wheelwrights, 
etc.  Half  the  houses  in  Virginia  were  built  by 
negro  carpenters.  Now  where  are  they  ?  In  Rich- 
mond there  may  be  a  few  blacksmiths  and  a  dozen 
or  two  carpenters  ;  but  where  are  the  others  ? 

A  great  strike  occurred  last  year  in  one  of  the 


THE  NEGRO   QUESTION  339 

large  iron-works  of  the  city  of  Richmond.  The 
president  of  the  company  told  me  afterwards  that, 
although  the  places  at  the  machines  were  filled 
later  on  by  volunteers,  and  although  there  were 
many  negroes  employed  in  the  works  who  did  not 
strike,  it  never  occurred  to  either  the  management 
or  to  the  negroes  that  they  could  work  at  the 
machines,  and  not  one  had  ever  suggested  it. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  Have  they  im- 
proved ?  Many  persons  declare  that  they  have 
not.  My  observation  has  led  to  a  somewhat  dif- 
ferent conclusion.  Where  they  have  been  brought 
into  contact  with  the  stronger  race  tinder  condi- 
tions in  which  they  derived  aid,  as  in  cities,  they 
have  in  certain  directions  improved ;  where  they 
have  lacked  this  stimulating  influence,  as  in  sec- 
tions of  the  country  where  the  association  has 
steadily  diminished,  they  have  failed  to  advance. 
In  the  cities,  where  they  are  in  touch  with  the 
whites,  they  are,  I  think,  becoming  more  dignified, 
more  self-respecting,  more  reasonable ;  in  the  coun- 
try, where  they  are  left  to  themselves,  I  fail  to  see 
this  improvement. 

This  improvement,  however,  such  as  it  is,  does 
not  do  away  with  the  race  issue.  So  far  from  it,  it 
rather  intensifies  the  feeling,  certainly  on  the  part 
of  the  negro,  and  makes  the  relation  more  strained. 
Yet  it  is  our  only  hope.  The  white  race,  it  is 
reasonably  certain,  is  not  going  to  be  ruled  by  the 
negro  either  North  or  South.  That  day  is  far  off. 


340  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

and  neither  Lodge  bills  nor  any  other  bills  can 
bring  it  until  they  can  reverse  natural  law,  enact 
that  ignorance  shall  be  above  intelligence,  and 
exalt  feebleness  over  strength.  The  history  of 
that  race  is  a  guaranty  that  this  cannot  be.  It  has 
been  a  conquering  race  from  its  first  appearance, 
like  the  Scandinavians  of  old  from  which  it  partly 
came, 

Firm  to  resolve  and  steadfast  to  endure. 

The  section  of  it  which  inhabits  the  United 
States  is  not  yet  degenerate.  That  part  of  it  at 
the  South  is  not.  It  is  not  necessary  to  recall  its 
history.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  pages  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  human  race.  Let  one  who  has  not 
been  generally  regarded  as  unduly  biassed  in  favor 
of  the  South  speak  for  it.  Senator  Hoar,  speaking 
of  the  people  of  the  South  on  the  floor  of  the  Sen- 
ate, in  the  speech  already  referred  to,  said  : 

They  have  some  qualities  which  I  cannot  even  presume 
to  claim  in  an  equal  degree  for  the  people  among  whom  I, 
myself,  dwell.  They  have  an  aptness  for  command  which 
makes  the  Southern  gentleman,  wherever  he  goes,  not  a 
peer  only,  but  a  prince.  They  have  a  love  for  home  ;  they 
have,  the  best  of  them,  and  the  most  of  them,  inherited 
from  the  great  race  from  which  they  come,  the  sense  of 
duty  and  the  instinct  of  honor  as  no  other  people  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  They  are  lovers  of  home.  They  have 
not  the  mean  traits  which  grow  up  somewhere  in  places 
where  money-making  is  the  chief  end  of  life.  They  have, 
above  all,  and  giving  value  to  all,  that  supreme  and  superb 
constancy  which,  without  regard  to  personal  ambition  and 


THE  NEGRO  QUESTION  341 

without  yielding  to  the  temptation  of  wealth,  without  get- 
ting tired  and  without  getting  diverted,  can  pursue  a  great 
public  object,  in  and  out,  year  after  year  and  generation 
after  generation. 

This  is  the  race  which  the  negro  confronts.  It 
is  a  race  which,  whatever  perils  have  impended, 
has  always  faced  them  with  a  steadfast  mind. 

Professor  James  Bryce  in  a  recent  paper  on  the 
negro  question  arrives  at  the  only  reasonable  con- 
clusion :  that  the  negro  be  let  alone  and  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  be  left  to  the  course  of  events. 
Friendship  for  the  negro  demands  this.  It  has 
become  the  fashion  of  late  for  certain  negro  leaders 
to  talk  in  conventions  held  outside  of  the  South  of 
fighting  for  their  rights.  For  their  own  sake  and 
that  of  their  race,  let  them  take  it  out  in  talking. 
,  A  single  outbreak  would  settle  the  question.  To 
us  of  the  South  it  appears  that  a  proper  race  pride 
is  one  of  the  strongest  securities  of  our  nation. 
No  people  can  become  great  without  it.  Without 
it  no  people  can  remain  great.  We  propose  to 
stand  upon  it. 

The  question  now  remains,  What  is  to  become 
of  the  negro  ?  It  is  not  likely  that  he  will  remain 
in  his  present  status,  if,  indeed,  it  is  possible  for 
him  to  do  so.  Many  schemes  have  been  suggested, 
none  of  them  alone  answerable  to  the  end  pro- 
posed. The  deportation  plan  does  not  seem  practi- 
cable at  present.  It  is  easy  to  suggest  theories, 
but  much  more  difficult  to  substantiate  them.  I 


342  THE   OLD    SOUTH 

hazard  one  based  upon  much  reflection  on  the  sub- 
ject. It  is,  that  the  negro  race  in  America  will 
eventually  disappear,  not  in  a  generation  or  a  cen- 
tury,—  it  may  take  several  centuries.  The  means 
will  be  natural.  Certain  portions  of  the  Southern 
States  will  for  a  while,  perhaps,  be  almost  given 
up  to  him ;  but  in  time  he  will  be  crowded  out 
even  there.  Africa  may  take  a  part ;  Mexico  and 
South  America  a  part ;  the  rest  will,  as  the  coun- 
try fills  up,  as  life  grows  harder  and  competition 
fiercer,  become  diffused  and  will  disappear,  a  por- 
tion, perhaps,  not  large,  by  absorption  into  the 
stronger  race,  the  residue  by  perishing  under  condi- 
tions of  life  unsuited  to  him.  The  ratio  of  the 
death  rate  of  the  race  is  already  much  larger  than 
that  of  the  white.  Consumption  and  zymotic  dis- 
eases are  already  making  their  inroads.1 

Meantime  he  is  here,  and  something  must  be 
done.  In  the  first  place,  let  us  have  all  the  light 
that  can  be  thrown  on  the  subject.  Form  an 
organization  to  consider  and  deal  with  the  subject, 
not  in  the  spirit  of  narrowness  or  temper,  but  in  a 
spirit  of  philosophic  deliberation,  such  as  becomes 
a  great  people  discussing  a  great  question  which 
concerns  not  only  their  present  but  their  future 
position  among  the  nations.  We  shall  then  get  at 
the  right  of  the  matter. 

Let  us  do  our  utmost  to  eliminate  from  the  ques- 
tion the  complication  of  its  political  features. 
1  See  "  Vital  Statistics  of  the  Negro."  Cited  supra. 


THE  NEGRO  QUESTION  343 

Get  politics  out  of  it,  and  the  problem  will  be 
more  than  half  solved.  Senator  Hampton  stated 
not  long  ago  in  a  paper  contributed  by  him,  I 
think,  to  the  North  American  Review,  that,  to  get 
the  negro  out  of  politics,  he  would  gladly  give  up 
the  representation  based  on  his  vote.  Could  any- 
thing throw  a  stronger  light  on  the  apprehension 
with  which  the  negro  in  politics  is  regarded  at  the 
South  ? 

There  never  was  any  question  more  befogged 
with  demagogism  than  that  of  manhood  suffrage. 
Let  us  apply  ourselves  to  the  securing  some  more 
reasonable  and  better  basis  for  the  suffrage.  Let 
us  establish  such  a  proper  qualification  as  a  condi- 
tion to  the  possession  of  the  elective  franchise 
as  shall  leave  the  ballot  only  to  those  who  have 
intelligence  enough  to  use  it  as  an  instrument  to 
secure  good  government  rather  than  to  destroy  it. 
In  taking  this  step  we  have  to  plant  ourselves  on 
a  broader  principle  than  that  of  a  race  qualifica- 
tion. It  is  not  merely  the  negro,  it  is  ignorance 
and  venality  which  we  want  to  disfranchise.  If  we 
can  disfranchise  these  we  need  not  fear  the  voter, 
whatever  the  color.  At  present  it  is  not  the  negro 
who  is  disfranchised,  but  the  white.  We  dare  not 
divide. 

Having  limited  him  in  a  franchise  which  he  has 
not  in  a  generation  learned  to  use,  continue  to 
teach  him.  It  is  from  the  educated  negro,  that  is, 
the  negro  who  is  more  enlightened  than  the  gen- 


344  THE  OLD   SOUTH 

eral  body  of  his  race,  that  order  must  come.  The 
ignorance,  venality,  and  superstition  of  the  average 
negro  are  dangerous  to  us.  Education  will  divide 
them  and  will  uplift  them.  They  may  learn  in 
time  that  if  they  wish  to  rise  they  must  look  to 
the  essential  qualities  of  good  citizenship.  In  this 
way  alone  can  the  race  or  any  part  of  the  race  look 
for  ultimate  salvation. 

It  has  appeared  to  some  that  the  South  has  not 
done  its  full  duty  by  the  negro.  Perfection  is, 
without  doubt,  a  standard  above  humanity ;  but,  at 
least,  we  of  the  South  can  say  that  we  have  done 
much  for  him;  if  we  have  not  admitted  him  to 
social  equality,  it  has  been  under  an  instinct 
stronger  than  reason,  and  in  obedience  to  a  law 
higher  than  is  on .  the  statute  books  :  the  law  of 
self-preservation.  Slavery,  whatever  its  demerits, 
was  not  in  its  time  the  unmitigated  evil  it  is 
fancied  to  have  been.  Its  time  has  passed.  No 
power  could  compel  the  South  to  have  it  back. 
But  to  the  negro  it  was  salvation.  It  found  him  a 
savage  and  a  cannibal  and  in  two  hundred  years  gave 
seven  millions  of  his  race  a  civilization,  the  only 
civilization  it  has  had  since  the  dawn  of  history. 

We  have  educated  him ;  we  have  aided  him ;  we 
have  sustained  him  in  all  right  directions.  We  are 
ready  to  continue  our  aid  ;  but  we  will  not  be  dom- 
inated by  him.  When  we  shall  be,  it  is  our  settled 
conviction  that  we  shall  deserve  the  degradation 
into  which  we  shall  have  sunk. 


i 
1401 


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